Singapore flagship the ‘Straits Times’ provided just the right message – that newspapers’ future will be digital – for delegates to ppiMedia’s open day event in Lübeck, Germany.

SPH customer service manager Sharon Lim says newspaper’s new iPad app had been both very successful and profitable, attracting a daily audience of 135,000 readers.

Their enthusiasm is shared by advertisers, who focus on campaigns for luxury goods. Since its launch last August, the app has delivered sales of more than SG$5 million.

The digital success was an apt symbol for ppi Media, which has gone through a

turbulent year, leading to its restructuring following the post-administration reorganisation of former parent manroland. It now has a new backer in Evers-Frank Group, and a stronger digital focus.

The changing times were evident from the welcome from joint chief executive Norbert Ohl, who opened the June conference with the words, “We are media”, parodying manroland’s ‘we are print’ campaign.

ppiMedia’s new world is focused on cross media, and the open days included  presentations covering best practices and new business models for integrated media products. With joint manager Martin Ruhle, Ohl told of a new and increasingly digital orientation, a message reinforced by Kay Julius Evers and Jens Silligmüller of Evers-Frank.

The Lübeck venue was also convenient for Uwe Lüders, chairman of the executive board of L. Possehl & Co, which purchased manroland web systems from the administration, and is based in the Hanseatic city.

“At present, the newspaper industry is taking a far too pessimistic attitude of its future,” he says. “Market analysts are demanding digital products and tablets are being hyped, leaving little room for print products.”

Lüders says this phase has always been a good time for investment, and he sees “room for potential” over the next ten to 15 years, especially in manroland web systems’ in the service sector, “presently assuming the structure of a medium- sized enterprise”.

Also emphasising the publishing industry’s potential were Südwest Presse’s Thomas Brackvogel and Valdo Lehri, publisher and chief executive of Reutlinger General Anzeiger and of the Druckzentrum Neckar-Alb print centre.

Print is strong and helps to shape public opinion, they say. Newspapers are and will always be a form of education and a cultural asset, however they need strong partners in online, mobile and tablet media channels in order to reach new target groups and readers.

For Johannes Vogel of Süddeutsche Zeitung Digitale Medien, the services offered to readers must be available “everywhere and at all times”. Free content is supplemented by premium material, but it takes the right mixture to be successful.

Among other contributors was Lutz Schumacher, chief executive of Mecklenburg’s Kurierverlags – publisher of 'Nordkurier', on the benefits of an integrated sales desk covering all its publishers' publications, whether print, online or mobile.

Figures are completely transparent, and creative and targeted development of products has been enhanced, with extremely fast workflow from idea to printed or digital magazine.

Finally, Korbinian Lehner, technology strategy director at Atos IT Solutions and Service took participants to the year 2020, showing them the ever-growing network of daily life, with social networks and intelligent gadgets. The question he posed was also the title of his presentation, “Will such a vision be a digital heaven or data hell?”

It was a theme partially reinforced by dinner speaker Morten Lund, the Danish venture capitalist who was a founder of Skype. Having successfully launched Kazaa and Skype by reacting to the needs of the time and creating solutions that generated added value for millions of users, he also reported a newspaper project of his which had failed.

ppi Media showed a range of new and enhanced products including Content-X planner, an AdX iPad app for field media consultants, and online job management for print customers.

Next year’s event will be on June 10-11, 2013.