Values

sidiary in France. By this time,
Bertelsmann had already demonstrated
with its book club that a German
publisher could be successful abroad.
The company was ready to do the same
with its magazines.
Axel Ganz seemed like the perfect
choice for the job. “With him, we found
a manager who also had the skills of an
editor-in-chief,” said Hensmann. After
a few talks and a meeting with owners
John Jahr and Reinhard Mohn, Ganz
dove into his new task with alacrity. He
continued to be fully committed to his
old job until the day he left, while
devoting his free time to his new job.
“I often conducted job interviews at the
airport in Paris at night, but the next
morning, I’d be back in Hamburg at
7:00 a.m.,” said Ganz.
In order to keep costs low at the
start-up, Prisma Presse, the 12-member
team shared two rooms with “Stern’s”
Paris correspondent. Ganz didn’t even
wait for the new company to get its own
bank account. “Since we didn’t have our
own account yet, I advanced 100,000
francs of my own money,” he said.
He quickly learned that he’d have to
adapt German magazine concepts
Every third Frenchman reads one of the magazines founded by Axel Ganz and
published by Prisma Presse. Based in Paris, Ganz (now 72, shown in his home office)
has also launched magazines for many other countries.
somewhat if they were to be successful
in France. His fi rst test case was “Geo.”
French readers liked the continuous
color pages – something of a novelty on
the French market at the time. In comparison
to the German edition of “Geo,”
the articles in the French version were
shorter, and the cover picture was edgier.
When Ganz launched a new title in
1981 – a science magazine called “Ça
m’intéresse” – French “Geo” was already
in the black. Even so, he often had
to fi nd ways around opposition from
headquarters in Hamburg, or even
from Gütersloh. Reinhard Mohn was
skeptical when Ganz presented him
with an idea for a new women’s magazine,
for example. Nonetheless, he gave
his blessing, and was quickly rewarded.
Shortly after its launch, “Prima” reached
a circulation of 1.5 million copies.
By this point, Prisma Presse had
more than 100 employees. Ganz remained
closely involved in operations.
He wasn’t content to leave layout design
to the creative team, or to let the
buyers alone decide what kind of paper
to print on. “When we launched
“Femme Actuelle” in 1984, it cost just
3.50 francs (0.53 euros). But the coated
paper and an elegant layout made this
popular magazine more high-end,”
said Ganz.
For the most part, the manager/
magazine maker was successful, as was
the case with “Femme Actuelle” which,
at its peak, had a circulation of 2 million
copies. But there were also missteps.
Ganz admits that with every new
title, he took “a totally new risk.”
“There’s no guarantee,” he said. “The
recipe for success is lots of hard work,
the pursuit of perfection, and the ability
to be self-critical.”
That’s the approach Ganz took fi rst
to his work in France, and later in Spain,
Italy, Poland, Russia, the US and Britain.
“Axel Ganz is a born publisher. We were
successful, but he always remained
hungry” said Gerd Schulte-Hillen, who
served as CEO of G+J until 2000.
Ganz was always fi rmly on board for
every title, fl ying back and forth, building
an editorial team, and managing his
staff. “I’ve probably spent about two
years of my life on a plane,” he joked.
And does he know how much money
his magazines earned in the years up to
his retirement? “Way over a billion euros,”
said Ganz – and smiled.
– 17 –