LH-S ditches 3m Bauer business following row

Lowe Howard-Spink has dropped German magazine publisher H. Bauer from its client list, claiming that relations with the publisher of Bella and Take a Break had become unworkable.

The total ad budget for the titles is understood to be 3m and Bauer is thought to be planning to launch another title in the crowded women’s weekly market at a new demographic group. The launch budget is believed to be 2m.

LH-S managing director Tim Lindsay says: “It is clear to us that Bauer no longer knows how to conduct a mutually beneficial client-agency relationship.”

Bauer managing director Alan Urry says that the account is not moving. “We have not been told,” he says, “we don’t always see eye to eye but I am surprised at LH-S’ move.”

Bauer came to the UK in 1986 when it launched weekly women’s magazine Bella with a 10m ad spend, and it started Take A Break in 1990. This was followed by the listings title TV Quick in 1991 and the “real life story” women’s weekly That’s Life last year.

According to Bauer’s own figures, Bella sales fell by 14.8 per cent year-on-year for the period January to June 1996, to 767,998. Take a Break fell 3.6 per cent to 1,447,950 but TV Quick increased by 8.3 per cent to 819,056.