ppi Media’s 14th Open Days in
Hamburg opens up new business fields
Is it print vs digital?
Or both should go
hand in hand? The
publishing industry
is now becoming
increasingly digital,
but print still plays
a significant role.
This was the general
consensus at ppi
Media’s 14th Open
Days organised from
June 23-24, 2014 at
Hamburg, Germany.
Participants at ppi Media's 14th Open Days.
|
To exchange ideas and
f ind out about new
developments, 140
experts gathered during the
two-day ppi Media’s Open
Days which covered topics such
as big data and cross-channel
publishing, as well as process
optimisation in publishing and
printing. The participants were
enthused about presentations
held by Nancy Lane, president,
Local Media Association and
Markus Feldenkirchen, CEO,
ppi Media. Crossing the Big
Pond in a figurative sense,
the experts talked about local
media trends. Markus made it
clear that German publishing
companies, including their
colleagues around the world,
should expand their range of
products and see themselves
as marketing organisations in
future.
Nancy conveyed, “Through
transparency and teamwork,
we have to embrace innovation
and overcome our scepticism
towards new platforms and the
social media. It’s exactly these
channels that are suitable for
a more visual communication
and for collecting and analysing
data that is very lucrative for
publishers. Referring an example
of a Hamburg-based small
cupcake shop, Christian Veith,
product manager, ppi Media,
demonstrated how social media
can be used in local markets
for a diversified marketing
strategy. Here, the cupcake
shop is only one element of
the brand positioning, which
is complemented by another
seven touchpoints, viz. company
profiles in social networks
like Facebook, Instagram and
Pinterest.
No rivalry between
print and online
Does the trend towards online
mean that no one wants to read
a newspaper anymore these days?
The answer to this from Michael
Kuth and Christian Wagner at
Bremer Tageszeitungen AG was
a big NO. “It would be fatal to
stop print altogether. Both the
experts explained that there’s
no competition between print
and digital, so it needs to cover
both by creating media-neutral
content. They further elaborated
that as a media company, it is
important not to think in terms
of specific channels, but in multimedia
terms instead. This is why
the Bremen-based publishing
company is optimising its print
infrastructure by standardising
its workflows and systems and
coordinating its organisational
processes by integrating the
online channels.
According to Kuth and Wagner,
the high level of credibility that
daily newspapers enjoy should
not be underestimated. And
this needs to be transferred to
the digital world. To achieve
this, the Bremer Tageszeitungen
AG will implement augmented
reality in the editorial and ad
departments of the Weser-Kurier.
Russmedia, on the other hand,
takes a different approach. In
order to grow in both the local
and international markets and
to be successful outside the
original area of circulation, the
company is active in several
fields. Although it continues to
focus on the printed newspaper,
it also pursues a two-brand
strategy for print and digital.
Russmedia has optimised its
online marketing strategy and
currently has approximately 100
online portals.
Online strategy to
acquire new readers
Ralf Büschemann and Philipp
Urbschat from Lippische Landes-
Zeitung are breaking new ground
in the Lippe region. With its
news app, Lippische Landes-
Zeitung is adding new content
and formats to its products. Ute
Becker, CEO of OWL-Online
GmbH, gave an insight into the
business model that she and her
team are currently developing:
OWL-Online intends to establish
itself as a brand name for the
younger target groups. Since
February 2014, the company has
been working on re-launching its
website, and is also revising its
range of products, so that readers
no longer associate the name
OWL with a newspaper only,
but also with an independent
range of digital products.
Media-neutral contents
What it became a catchword
during the event was Ute
Becker’s phrase ‘To rethink’.
Although print remains the
core business of newspapers,
digital products, social media
marketing, mobile apps and
cross-channel publishing must
become a fixed part of the
publishing industry, according to
the experts. Just how important
it is to tailor content to each
individual reader’s needs in
the news jungle of a multioption
society was illustrated by
Manuel Scheyda, vice president
for product management at ppi
Media, in his presentation on
big data. Know-how on users,
proximity to customers and a
back channel – as provided by
Web 2.0 – are indispensable
for addressing individual target
groups, in particular digital
natives. With this in mind,
ppi Media not only develops
software for print, but is
enhancing its range of products
to include streamlined workflow
solutions for web, broadcast and
mobile, as demonstrated by its
managing directors, Norbert Ohl
and Jan Kasten.
Saving costs and
optimising processes
In their presentation, Barbara
Scheuer and Markus Trost
demons t rated how thei r
company, Mediaprint Infoverlag,
intends to remain successful
in a declining market where
competition, however, remains
tough. Mediaprint Infoverlag
GmbH is streamlining its print
workflow and will supply its
online channels with editorial
articles as soon as possible.
It will give priority to local
products in print and mobile,
thereby reducing its costs.
Websites, apps, print products,
etc will be developed and
maintained for customers and
corporate publishing, whereas
user-generated content is to
motivate people from small
communities to visit platforms
provided by Mediaprint.
Matthias Langenohl, CEO,
Eversfrank Group envisaged
another way of working more
cost-effectively. He talked
about how the group produces
eco-efficient print products, not
only in order to save costs, but
also to be more environmental
friendly and more regional,
and to dispense with the use
of chemicals. He conceded that
although it is not possible to
produce print products that are
fully climate-neutral, they can
make a positive contribution
by reducing the emission of
carbon dioxide, not using
wood as a raw material and
through afforestation projects.
Mario Neurath from comosoft
GmbH spoke about site-related
advertising and with the flood
of product information available
today, how it could be succeeded
in providing customers with
exactly the right information
that is relevant to them.
