Metro’s new German plans
In an interview with German leading quality paper Süddeutsche Zeitung, Metro CEO Per Mikael Jensen (picture from SDZ), woke up all German publishers today. “Germany? The sooner the better!” he told the paper.
The quote is almost as good as “every day without a free paper is a good day” from German publisher Axel Springer some years ago. Both quotes, of course, cannot be true at the same time. If Metro wants to launch in Germany, it will run into Springer without doubt. And there will be blood.
Jensen, however, did not give a time table for his plans. “Not within the next weeks. Not this summer.” he said, which is not really unexpected.
Without partners, a launch in Germany would be impossible anyway, so Metro is looking partners. This, in fact, is not the first search for partners in the biggest newspaper market in Europe. The interview could be seen as an invitation for potential partners of course, which would make it a free ad for Metro. Smart move.
Jensen did not see free dailies as a big danger for paid dailies – as the German situation might prove: a faster decline of paid dailies than in most other European countries without free papers to blame. No, “the biggest threat for paid papers are paid papers themselves”.
Jensen sees Germany as a market dominated by one big national player (Springer) and many strong regional publishers, who decided together not to start free dailies, so it has to be an outsider. Jensen does not fear Springer but does not look forward to battle with them as well:
“you have to know some tricks when fighting them (…). But looking at Germany, you take a deep breath and say ‘let’s do it’. But not overnight. You need a partner.”
He also produced a list of possible suspects: Lidl, WAZ or another regional publisher, Deutsche Post, the Metro retail chain, and the Commerzbank.
Not covered in the interview is another important reason for having a partner: money. As Metro International will not be able to finance a launch in Germany alone, let alone a three to five year money-losing operation, it needs a partner like oxygen. A bank, therefore, would indeed be a good idea. A rich bank, of course.