German newspapers adopt ppi Media solutions for simplified and efficient ad workflows

Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung GmbH is one of the many publishers in Germany that use solutions developed by ppi Media. The newspaper and its regional editions are planned using PlanPag from ppi Media, the industry’s standard for planning daily newspapers.

Now, Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung has also decided to use the transparent AdX Print solution to make the current status of its planned ads visible throughout the company, which means it no longer has to create and share Excel spreadsheets for this purpose. AdX Print has significantly improved the collaboration between different departments at the Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung, as the current status of ad placements can be viewed live at any time via a web browser to maximize transparency in the editorial and advertising departments.

Adoption of AdX Print was initiated by Inge Höltzcke, Publisher & Editor-in-Chief, Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung. Once the decision had been made to introduce the solution, AdX Print was set up on the newspaper’s production system in next to no time. “All users in the advertising department are really impressed. The introduction of AdX Print is an important step towards automating advertising workflows at Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung”, says Andreas Miltner, Advertising Manager, Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung.

Together with AdMan for ad production, AdPag for ad make-up and other modules such as AdCept for modern, digital customer ad review workflows, AdX Print provides a modular set of ad solutions from ppi Media that enable advertising workflows for print media to be extensively automated and digitalised.

Special adjustments for funeral homes

On other side, Rheinische Post, one of the leading dailies with highest circulations in the German Rhineland, is following in the footsteps of other publishers and media companies such as Verlag Nürnberger Presse and VRM by using AdSelf to introduce special, simplified advertising workflows for funeral homes.

AdSelf is a self-service ad portal developed by ppi Media that media companies can use to target both companies and individuals. The software makes it incredibly easy for users to book classified ads for print media. The publisher’s partner companies will be able to integrate the portal into their existing processes.

Rheinische Post will be introducing the AdSelf portal exclusively for funeral homes at first. ppi Media has made various adjustments and developments to facilitate this application. For example, billing options have been streamlined to significantly simplify processes for publishers, undertakers and their end customers. The agency commission can be viewed separately by undertakers at any time, and the integration of the Stylo editor for creating and editing ads has also been improved. For example, the editor always displays the height of an advertisement in millimetre as it expands, and ad designs can be uploaded and downloaded in PDF format.

These are just some of the adjustments that have made advertising workflows significantly more efficient and convenient for Rheinische Post and its B2B customers in the funeral sector. “We are delighted that ppi Media has customised the AdSelf portal for a targeted group of B2B customers at Rheinische Post”, says Sonja Reitemeier, Project Manager, Rheinische Post, adding, “The new portal has already gone down very well with our customers. We used to receive most of our orders via email and had to make manual adjustments, but our processes are now automated and much simpler”.

In the future, Rheinische Post plans to transfer the new AdSelf advertising workflow for funeral homes to the General-Anzeiger Bonn and other daily newspapers in the publishing group.