As of: March 14, 2024, 6:19 a.m
By: Hanna Raif
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In the series “The Red (R)evolution” the tz compares yesterday and today at FC Bayern.
Part five is about the media work of the German record champions.
Munich - FC Bayern, forever number one… Every football fan knows the red club anthem.
But how did the Munich team actually get to the top?
How did this development go and what are the differences to the current generation of players and fans?
In the series
The
Red
(R)evolution
, the tz looks for clues and compares yesterday and today at the largest club in the world.
FC Bayern Munich |
|
|---|---|
Founding: |
February 27, 1900 |
Members: |
330,000 |
Achievements (selection): |
33 x German champions, 20 x DFB Cup winners, 6 x European Cup/Champions League winners |
Bavaria's media director Mennerich and former press chief Hörwick unpack
Part five today is about FC Bayern’s media work.
How many interview requests come through every day?
How have the priorities of the press shifted in recent decades?
And which Bayern coach was actually a particularly tough nut to crack when it came to communication?
These and other questions are answered by media director Stefan Mennerich, under whose direction the German record champions set one reach record after another, and former press director Markus Hörwick, the inventor of media work in the Bundesliga.
One of the most prominent examples of FC Bayern's press work is, of course, the regular press conferences in the press club at the Allianz Arena.
Here with (from left to right) Stefan Mennerich, Herbert Hainer, and Jan-Christian Dreesen.
© IMAGO/Revierfoto
That's what Markus Hörwick says
On the first day, in July 1983, Markus Hörwick was asked a crucial question.
It came from the then managing director Walter Fembeck and said: “What are you doing here?” The answer came out of the mouth of the 26-year-old newcomer to FC Bayern, who had arrived at 8:15 a.m. instead of 8:30 a.m.: “Yes, I'm starting here today .” Oh yes, thought Fembeck, there was something there: “We still have to make room for that.” It should be worth it.
Markus Hörwick tells the story today, more than 40 years later, with a big grin on his face - because he knows what happened in the more than three decades that he sat at the desk that Fembeck assigned him back then.
When he says about his early days: “We were the first!”, he is primarily referring to himself, because Hörwick, now 67, was a pioneer in German and international football.
He knew the other side from five years at the
Bild
newspaper and two more years in the PR department at adidas - and he had one goal from the start: “Push, push.” Because he had already recognized what he was telling others in the club had to convince: “In order to shape the public image of FC Bayern, we have to feed the journalists.” Today, the plan from back then – opening the club premises, offering appointments, arranging discussions – is no longer possible to implement.
Former press director of FC Bayern: Markus Hörwick © IMAGO/Lackovic
Bavaria's former press chief Hörwick: “I saw myself as a service provider”
Hörwick still remembers a day when he - initially responsible for the members' newspaper Bayern Magazin - looked out of the office window at the training ground with Uli Hoeneß.
The manager at the time couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the
Bild
newspaper onlooker again.
He said: “Markus, he’s been here for the third day in a row!” Instead of anger, there was astonishment when Hörwick replied: “Uli, that has to be our goal!” Hoeneß closed the conversation with an incredulous “Have fun!” .
Hörwick should have that.
“Targeted media work” is what Hörwick says about his early years: “I saw myself as a service provider.” More and more fans streamed into the stadium, and what Bayern did was impressive: “at least 14” of 18 Bundesliga teams came to support Hörwick To see the shoulder, UEFA even made a documentary that it made available to the participants in the Champions League to show how good media and public relations work.
Hörwick is critical of today's media landscape
Hörwick himself, however, also positioned himself more and more broadly.
The program booklets from England inspired him, preliminary reports, interviews and the number of pages increased.
Today, when he opens Magazine 51, which is run by Max Breitner, he says approvingly: “That was the goal.
I read a page - and I can't stop reading it.
Well done"
The Munich native doesn't view today's football media landscape quite so favorably.
Although he knows: “The things from my time and the things from today no longer have anything to do with each other.” Nevertheless, he wants more access, more closeness, more cooperation instead of against each other.
He also argued this way during the rapid development of his term in office until 2016, characterized by the emergence of private television and, of course, the anonymity of the Internet.
When Karl-Heinz Rummenigge once said to him: “Markus, we can do everything ourselves via our channels,” Hörwick replied: “Kalle, don’t forget: these media made our club great.” He speaks of an “echo”.
Gladly again and again.
The things from my time and the things from today no longer have anything to do with each other.
Markus Hörwick
After the Breno house fire, Hörwick left his cell phone on at night
Hörwick did the job for 33 years; after the Breno house fire in 2011, he left his cell phone on even at night.
For him, the event was a real aha experience, the “end of reason”.
Because that night, when he was without a cell phone for six and a half hours, print-ready interviews appeared on the Internet “with the fire chief, the consultant and the neighbor.”
The question “What are you doing here?” was unnecessary the day after.
Bavaria's media director Stefan Mennerich © IMAGO/Lackovic
That's what Stefan Mennerich says
Mr. Mennerich, how has media work at FC Bayern changed over the years?
Communication at FC Bayern used to revolve almost exclusively around football, the results and the players.
Due to social development, there is now a lot of focus on social responsibility, the issue of the environment and, more generally, sustainability.
In addition, economic issues have also become increasingly important.
We have also become more international, have editorial offices in New York, Bangkok, Shanghai and Cairo, and distribute our news in twelve languages.
Added to this is digitalization, which means that the pace, the hectic pace and, unfortunately, the number of unverified news and rumors have increased rapidly.
Everyone had to learn to deal with it, including us at FC Bayern.
Digitalization also led to the creation of our own media platforms, from websites to apps and social media channels to TV offerings, our own documentary series and virtual worlds.
How has the relationship between external/internal media changed?
I only recently received an evaluation of it.
The number of interviews our players or coaches conduct with external media has hardly changed over the past twenty years.
However, the demands of the club's own media, sponsorship and other areas have increased.
The players have more appointments to attend to than before.
Are club media more important for fan engagement than traditional media?
Through the club media we can reach our fans around the globe with our content every day and so we can stay in touch with them.
We have around 170 million followers on our social media platforms and publish around 350 posts, videos, texts and images via our media every day.
This is how we reach and retain fans.
But traditional media is just as important to us.
They form an independent image with criticism, sometimes also with praise and with a classification of the topics.
That's an important part of our world - and that sometimes keeps you awake (smiles).
How many interviews would you conduct each week and would inquiries be answered positively?
We receive an average of 80 inquiries per day from home and abroad.
Is the new generation of players more closed to the media than the old ones?
Nowadays, any statement can go viral in a matter of seconds, can immediately receive hundreds of thousands of comments and become a headline.
This has made some players more cautious.
This is partly where the criticism of streamlined statements comes from.
Here the cat bites its tail.
Finally, tell us: Are there or were there any particularly “tough nuts”?
There are players and coaches who prefer to communicate than others.
But I also think that’s completely normal.
It has always been that way and it will remain that way.
Not everyone is a Thomas Müller.
Hanna Raif