SAP for Media at Axel Springer

Focus on the Customer

Axel Springer Verlag has been using the SAP industry solution to manage subscribers to all of its magazines since 2002. Conversely, newspaper subscriber data was managed with systems that had been developed in-house. One reason behind this separation was the fact that the processes for newspapers were very different from those for magazines. However, there are also big differences between the newspapers themselves. Within two years, Arvato Systems and the project team developed a system that places the focus on customers. The new system is expected to cut costs across the entire process chain, and it should remain modern and viable for a very long time.

Customer Benefits

Stronger customer orientation and retention

Increased transparency regarding subscriber behavior through BI

Cost reduction and reduced "handling time"

Project Overview

Background Situation

Times are tough for many publishing companies. Plummeting circulation, shrinking markets, and crumbling customer relationships are shaping the market these days. That’s why Axel Springer Verlag and many other media companies are working hard to further improve customer satisfaction. CEO of Axel Springer SE Mathias Döpfner publicly announced: “We want to be Europe’s most customer-friendly media company.” Arvato Systems helped the company become more efficient in managing its subscribers.

Vision

The objective of implementing SAP for Media (M/SD) was to achieve a more customer-oriented approach and increase customer satisfaction as a result. As part of a two-year project, the stand-alone systems that were previously in use at Axel Springer’s various newspapers and magazines were replaced by a standardized subscriber management system. The publisher emphasized that the new subscriber system should be object-oriented rather than transaction-oriented in order to provide a comprehensive overview of customers for the first time, allowing for cross-selling potential among the approximately ten million customers with different subscriptions.

Solution

The open architecture of the BIC platform is the ideal base from which to implement customer-specific requirements quickly and efficiently and to integrate them fully. The main users of this system are the employees at Axel Springer’s call centers and sales departments, who now access a single system. Axel Springer also wanted to extract more added value from an improved analysis of its subscribers’ behavior. For this reason, Arvato Systems also assisted in the introduction of SAP BI to manage sales. This generates operating figures on a daily basis, allowing the company to conduct a precise market analysis based on standardized reports.

The Customer

Founded in 1946 by the eponymous publisher, Axel Springer is one of Europe’s leading multimedia-integrated media companies, offering a wide range of print and digital products. Today Axel Springer SE is not only a market leader in the German print business, but also operates in over 40 countries with its subsidiaries, joint ventures, and licenses thanks to consistent digitalization. In 2016, the company’s more than 15,300 employees generated total sales of €3.29 billion and an annual profit (EBITDA) of €595.5 million.

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