"We underestimated these difficulties, there's nothing to sugarcoat".

The joint advertising venture is history. Following SRG's exit, Swisscom's withdrawal from Admeira was also announced last week. Ringier is taking over the company completely and turning it into a pure TV marketer instead of a cross-media marketing platform as planned. Advertising for print and online products is now being sold again at Dufourstrasse itself (Werbewoche.ch reported).

"There's nothing to sugarcoat"

The original plan to stand up to the US tech giants Google and Facebook was a failure, admits Ringier CEO Walder: "It didn't work as expected". He cites the ban on SRG advertising to specific target groups as one of the reasons: "That was a big blow." On the other hand, bringing together the Swisscom, Ringier and SRG teams proved to be an "enormous challenge". "We underestimated these difficulties, there's nothing to gloss over," admits Walder.

Under pressure from Tamedia, the wind in the VSM

The collaboration with the Publishers Association (VSM) also did not go according to plan. "The idea was that other companies would participate in the marketing alliance," says Walder. "The politically driven rejection by the Swiss Media Association was then unprecedented." The then President Hanspeter Lebrument still welcomed the solution, "but under pressure from Tamedia, the wind changed in a flash".

He reproaches himself for not having brought the members of the Swiss Media Association on board at an early stage, says Walder self-critically. "The SRG's delicate situation before the No Billag vote created a momentum of its own that could not be countered. Nevertheless, the idea of this cross-media alliance was the right one."

Walder hopes for the Login Alliance

Nevertheless, the Ringier CEO does not believe that the battle against the overpowering US tech giants has been lost completely - he draws hope from the login alliance between the major media companies. "We know which user is active on which platform - regardless of the device. This provides better data for the Swiss advertising market." Facebook, Google and Amazon do exactly that. And they have been for years.

Preference given to Mobiliar - thanks to long-term interest

Walder also talks about Mobiliar's investment in Ringier. The insurance company is acquiring 25 percent of the media group's shares - the purchase price is estimated at around CHF 400 million. According to Walder, around 70 percent of the purchase price will flow directly into the company, with the remainder going to the shareholders. "We want to invest, not skim off the top," he says, referring to media reports that claimed shareholders would receive 70 percent.

In order to continue the digital transformation, new funds are needed, says Walder. Although there had been "many inquiries from leading global financial investors", the decision was made in favor of Mobiliar. In contrast to short-term investors, the company, which has already held a stake in the Scout 24 Group for four years, thinks long-term.

Smartphone indicates available apartments when walking

Among other things, the new funds will be used to acquire technology companies in order to keep up with the latest developments. In a few years, it will be possible to book concert tickets directly via voice input in the Ticketcorner app - without any further steps. Or, according to Walder's vision, pop-up messages will appear in the future when walking through Zurich if an apartment matching the user profile is available somewhere.

The Sunday press outlives the daily press

And the Ringier boss predicts something else: a better future for the Sunday titles of the printed press. "The SonntagsBlick will exist longer than the View. And the NZZ on Sunday longer than the NZZ." However, he doesn't care how long the newspapers will generally appear on paper. "Our 140 media brands must reach people where they are - and where people want them to be."