In a drastic step, Ringier Media Switzerland announces that 75 jobs are to be cut. The planned measures, in connection with the merger of the Blick Group and the former Ringier Axel Springer Schweiz AG (RASCH), are intended to make the company an innovative pioneer in the media industry by bundling competencies and increasing efficiency. Service areas will be particularly affected, while editorial offices and Ringier Advertising will be less severely impacted.
CEO Ladina Heimgartner emphasizes the necessity of these measures in order to create a healthy and sustainable economic basis for Ringier Media Switzerland. The consultation process will run until January 19, 2024, with implementation of the new structure starting in February of the same year.
The merger of the Blick Group and the former Ringier Axel Springer Schweiz AG (RASCH) was announced in September. Following a comprehensive evaluation phase, the management has now presented the future organization. The declared aim is to become the most innovative media house in Switzerland with more than 20 established titles, a broad range of topics and concentrated expertise.
Bundling of competencies
In order to achieve this goal, existing structures have been analyzed with a focus on cost-effectiveness, reducing duplicate structures and building a modern organization. In order to ensure effectiveness, agility and efficiency, the management is planning to bundle competencies in various areas. In addition to not filling vacancies and reducing material costs, a reduction of around 75 positions is essential, as the media company writes in a corresponding press release.
Service areas particularly affected
The service areas, including user market support, marketing and mediatech, are apparently more affected than the editorial offices and Ringier Advertising. The adjustments were developed in 12 working groups consisting of employees, RMS management and a consulting firm specializing in company mergers.
CEO Ladina Heimgartner today informed employees and staff committees about the planned package of measures for the realignment of Ringier Media Switzerland. The consultation process ends on January 19, 2024, and the result will be communicated at the end of January. The new structure is to be implemented from February 2024.
Clear cut and then rest...
The CEO emphasized that the planned organizational structure would create a healthy economic basis for RMS. She expressed her regret that this goal could not be achieved without job cuts. Nevertheless, it was considered better to make a clear cut and then allow calm to prevail. Referring to the existing social plans, she mentioned that tried and tested instruments were available to cushion the consequences for the colleagues affected.
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Jean-Marie Dru, then Chairman of TBWAWorldwide, first postulated the potential of creative disruption in marketing in 1992. He was referring to a radical change in a market that is brought about by overturning existing conventions. He introduced the concept of disruption as a marketing tool by publishing a full-page advertisement with the headline "Disruption" in the "Wall Street Journal", the "Frankfurter Allgemeine" and "Le Figaro" simultaneously. It explained the disruptive methodology of BDDP (now TBWA). Jean-Marie Dru was the first to use the word in the business world and soon had the term trademarked. It was the first time that disruption was given a positive meaning. Since then, the word has been gradually adopted by the business world and mentioned in countless press articles, in publications such as "Forbes", "Fast Company" and "AdAge".
But how do we understand disruption? Let's look at innovations that changed our world. In the spring of 1973, Motorola engineer Martin Cooper demonstrated a cell phone on the street for the first time: The device was clunky and 25 centimeters long - but still a sensation. On August 6, 1991, the first website by British computer scientist Berners-Lee went live, and on January 9, 2007, the first iPhone was presented by Steve Jobs. Since then, technical achievements have been chasing each other at a rapid pace, breaking through norms, creating new markets and generating new types of value. Bitcoins, blockchain, NFTs and metaverse soon followed. We are currently being moved by artificial intelligence - what will come next? Society is being shaken up and can hardly escape the whirlwind of ongoing change.
"Unconventional thinking not only harbors risks, but also many opportunities."
This change, often referred to as disruption, is often described as the process in which existing business models, products or services are fundamentally changed or displaced by innovative technologies, approaches or ideas. This can result in established companies and markets being challenged by new players or innovations, which can lead to far-reaching changes in the economy and society. Disruption can have both positive and negative effects, as it offers opportunities for growth and progress, but can also jeopardize existing structures and jobs.
The term "disruption" is derived from the English word "disrupt" (meaning "to destroy", "to interrupt"). It is of Latin origin (the concept of disruption has its origins in the Latin word "disruptio") and is a word that the French introduced into the English language but which later disappeared from French. It means "break" or rather the act of "creating a break" to the point of smashing or destroying. Disruption is often associated with a negative connotation, but this does not necessarily have to be the case.
Disruption creates space for something new
At TBWA, we define disruption as a break with the status quo (i.e. breaking the rules) combined with the search for unexpected solutions. We are not talking about gradual change or marginal development. We believe that the best way to help brands grow is usually through strategies that require disruption. In this context, I would like to take the liberty of making an excursion into evolutionary biology. Because disruption is also a form of selection (loosely based on Wikipedia): In disruptive (splitting) selection, the most common forms are pushed back, for example due to parasites, predators or infectious diseases. Individuals with rare traits then have an advantage - for example, the particularly small or particularly large individuals. These individuals can occupy so-called ecological niches due to their specific characteristics, which can give them an evolutionary advantage. They are favored by selection. Selection pressure ensures a lower frequency of animals with "average" characteristics; those with extreme phenotypes are favored by selection.
"Are we really still setting the right priorities today? Instead of constantly speeding things up, could disruption not also be used to slow things down? Even to disrupt current growth?"
The topic of selection is also essential in the context of the communications industry. Starting with an increasingly selective perception, induced by over 3,000 advertising messages per person per day. And ultimately, the selection or choice of a brand, service or product by consumers is derived from this.
Unconventional thinking as an opportunity
So, disruption is clearly an opportunity for survival and further development. Nature should be a role model for us when it comes to questioning ourselves. Progress is only possible through continuous optimization or the incessant search for a deliberate break with convention. This creates something new, which in turn allows for something new - as described in the examples above in the field of technology. It is therefore not just a question of survival to follow the pattern of breaking with conventions and to keep motivating oneself to confront supposed resistance, but also to tap into potential that needs to be discovered.
This is also the case in the corporate world. This has been proven by various managers, some of whom still come from the old business world, but who have also become part of the new business world. They have all left their mark beyond their own industry and developed truly disruptive business philosophies. Corporate leaders such as Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, Herb Kelleher, Bernard Arnault, Zhang Rimin, Elon Musk and Jack Ma have shown that unconventional thinking not only harbors risks, but also many opportunities. They have all refused to conform to rigid ways of thinking and acting. They have proven to be free spirits who do not allow themselves to be restricted by conventional patterns and do not tolerate any obstacles on the way to their goals. They all possess(ed) the essential qualities of great leaders: a clear vision, technical expertise and the ability to make quick decisions. And the ability to succeed.
#ChangeTheBrief Alliance
We are all called upon to open up, allow new things to happen or even demand them. In England, for example, an alliance has been founded with the aim of steering marketing thinking in new directions. The #Change TheBrief Alliance is a partnership between agencies of different sizes and types (media, creative, design and PR agencies) and their clients, who learn and act together to tackle the challenge of the climate crisis head on by promoting sustainability through all the means and channels available to them. The Alliance offers all its members an on-demand and in-person learning program and community that provides insights and expert advice on how we can adapt our actions to promote more sustainable choices and behaviors in line with a low-carbon world. So-called Purpose Disruptors have helped turn an individual initiative from the Mindshare agency into a movement that unites the collective power of the industry to achieve more.
"The driving force of change keeps us in its wake, so why shouldn't we try to control it ourselves?"
You may think what you like about such an approach, but it shows that we should not only question our attitudes and insights out of a sense of self-preservation, but also out of pure conviction as to whether we are doing the right thing and achieving the best results.
Are we setting the right priorities?
Our entire economic system and we ourselves are geared towards growth. Everything we do is largely subordinated to the continuation of our prosperity and well-being. We are constantly pushing ourselves to get ahead. Technical progress, medical progress, etc., etc. But the question is whether we are really getting better? Catastrophe follows catastrophe without us being able to prevent it. Are we really still setting the right priorities today? Couldn't disruption also be used to slow things down instead of constantly speeding them up? Even to disrupt ongoing growth?
As we have already learned above, disruptive selection is based on the fact that the survival of the species ("survival of the fittest") is to be sought in change or otherness. What if we were to use this thinking to use our energy in the future to reprioritize and, instead of striving for optimized growth, strive to do more for sustainable structural development? The driving force of change keeps us in its wake, so why shouldn't we try to steer it ourselves? Because we have a choice: "Disrupt or die."
* Matthias Kiess is CEO of TBWASwitzerland and President of the International Advertising Association (IAA).
