By: Ekrem Dupanović
Boris Trupčević, Managing Director of Styria Media Group for Croatia, was appointed almost three months ago as President of the Board of Directors of ABC Croatia, a system for audit of print media circulation.
ABC Croatia is a very successful association that brings together almost all news publishers in Croatia. Is there a space for expanding membership, how much do ABC’s data mean for publishers and advertisers, and what is his opinion on the Croatian press media market from the vantage point of one of the largest newspaper publishers in Croatia?
Media Marketing: When you took over the responsibilities of the chairman of the board of ABC Croatia, you said that one of your tasks would be to increase the number of members of this association. Almost everyone who is in the print publishing business in Croatia are members of the ABC. Is there still room for expansion?
Boris Trupčević: What I have said in that statement is not my personal agenda, but the agenda of the entire board. With its founding and the involvement of all relevant market players, primarily publishers who certify their publications, ABC has introduced to the market a new level of transparency, ie complete transparency in the segment of print media. The vast majority of publishers and major editions are members of the ABC, but the entire market is still not part of it. There are still some daily newspaper and magazine editions that are not in the ABC system.
Media Marketing: Why do you think they are still keeping outside the system?
Boris Trupčević: There are different reasons. For some, there may have been some controversies, some had no interest or did not recognize the value of entering such a system. However, I think that through the years it has became obvious that a positive standard has been established on the market, that needs to be preserved and improved, and that everyone should follow. We have reached the stage when really the only next step is for all those who mean something in the market be part of that system of measurement and certification. So, most of the market is already inside and the system works. Now, the next step is to finalize the job and have these couple of publishers (or editions), which are not yet inside, to enter the system so we get a completely transparent situation across the entire market.
Media Marketing: How much do advertisers pay notice to the fact whether a print media is a part of the ABC?
Boris Trupčević: Advertisers have always been interested in the information about circulation, as a piece of data that is very much real, tangible, truthful and finite. Contrary to other market metering methods, certification of circulation is not an estimate, it is not a statistical guess, but a real, exact data, as solid as stone, so to speak. It is especially important to advertisers who are more present in print media, those who, say, do inserts, like catalogs. There are advertisers who show less interest in certification, or rather data on circulation. I think the bulk of key advertisers and agencies certainly need this information, that they use it and ask the media to be certified.
Transparency is of crucial importance for a healthy market. Trust is not built on blind trust or “selling a story”. It needs to be founded on truthful data.
Media Marketing: You are chairman of the board of one of the largest newspaper publishers in Croatia. How do you see the market of print media in Croatia from that vantage point?
Boris Trupčević: The print media market in Croatia has been on a downward trend for many years. At present, it has stabilized quite well. I still see the print media as a significant segment on our media market, and I see positive trends. Subscriber model in print media is on the rise. We are a market that has been relying solely on kiosks as a distribution channel for years, whereas in some editions today we see that over 50 percent of the circulation is sold through subscription. This tells us that the audience wants to have a lasting relationship with these magazines, and they have confidence in these media. Generally speaking, print media have always been the one that represented the foundation of media production, always offering the greatest and most important stories. The print media are those who discover the affairs, they are actually those who control the power centers, first and foremost the politics, and therefore the audience continues to show great confidence in print media. On the other hand, by looking at things from a business angle, from the point of advertising, it is the trust in the print media that is being transferred to advertisers and their messages as well. This is, in essence, a transaction occurring between media and advertisers. Advertisers need a true and trusted environment, they need an environment in which there is great public confidence, so that this confidence would also rub off on their own commercial messages that are communicated through those media.
