Trends “across the pond” in North America were a special interest for delegates to this year’s fourteenth ppimedia Open Days in Hamburg.

Among speakers were Nancy Lane, president of the US Local Media Association, and Markus Feldenkirchen who heads ppi Media’s US operation.

Feldenkirchen encouraged publishing companies in Europe and elsewhere to follow colleagues and expand their range of products, seeing themselves as “marketing organisations” in the future. What has been common practice in local markets in the USA for a number of years, still has to be established in Germany.

Nancy Lane’s message was also very clear: Through transparency and teamwork, we have to embrace innovation and overcome 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,” she says.

Elsewhere, speakers canvassed the question of print or digital emphasis… or whether all products should go hand in hand. Some 140 industry experts at the Hamburg event on June 23-24 agreed that while the industry was becoming increasingly digital, print still played a significant role. The agenda covered topics such as big data and cross-channel publishing, as well as process optimisation in publishing and printing.

Using a small cupcake shop in Hamburg as an example, ppi product manager Christian Veith 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, such as company profiles in social networks like Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. In the USA, this marketing approach is well-established, and offers great potential in other markets. “Social media provides a new business segment which regional media companies can use to reach and interact with digital natives in particular, and to get to know them better in terms of personalised marketing,” he says.

No competition between print and online

Does the trend towards online mean that no-one wants to read a newspaper anymore? The answer to this from Michael Kuth and Christian Wagner at Bremer Tageszeitungen was a clear “no”.

“It would be fatal to stop print altogether,” Kuth says. “There’s no competition between print and digital, so we need to cover both by creating media-neutral content.”

The Bremen-based publishing company is optimising its print infrastructure by standardising workflows and systems and coordinating its organisational processes by integrating the online channels. The high level of credibility that daily newspapers enjoy should not be underestimated, they say, and this needs to be transferred to the digital world.

As part of the project, Bremer Tageszeitungen is implementing 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 about 100 online portals. In so doing, the company creates proximity and provides citizens’ forums, for example. As a result, Russmedia has succeeded in increasing its mobile traffic. Markus Raith, chief executive of Russmedia GmbH, described the special innovation strategy pursued by the Austrian media company and explained why it operates more and more in niche markets.

Ralf Büschemann and Philipp Urbschat from Lippische Landes-Zeitung, told how the newspaper was breaking new ground in the Lippe region, adding new content via a news app.

OWL-Online chief executive Ute Becker gave an insight into the business model that she and her team are currently developing to establish itself as a brand for younger target groups. The company has been working on relaunching its website since February, 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.

“Unless we rethink, this won’t work,” says Ute Becker.

Media-neutral content for all channels

Ute Becker’s phrase “to rethink” became the catchword of the entire event. 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 experts. Just how important it is to tailor content to each individual reader’s needs in the news jungle of a multi-option society was illustrated by Manuel Scheyda, ppi Media vice president for product management, in a 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 is enhancing its range of products to include streamlined workflow solutions for web, broadcast and mobile, and these were demonstrated by managing directors Norbert Ohl and Jan Kasten.

Individual portals for industrial customers and tools for publishing media-neutral content, software solutions for content management systems, as well as hybrid apps, are the main new elements in a new range of products.

From Mediaprint Infoverlag, Barbara Scheuer and Markus Trost demonstrated how their company is streamlining its print workflow and to supply online channels with editorial. It will give priority to local products in print and mobile, thereby reducing its costs.

Websites, apps and print products 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, chief executive of the 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 environmentally friendly and more regional, and to dispense with the use of chemicals. Langenohl conceded that although it is not possible to produce print products that are fully climate-neutral, we 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 spoke about site-related advertising and, with the flood of product information available today, how publishers can succeed in providing customers with exactly the right information that is relevant to them.

An evening event included a tour of Hamburg’s St Pauli district and the Millerntor Stadium. With the World Cup underway, participants found the time – between the players’ tunnel, lounge and stands – to exchange ideas and establish new contacts.

Next year’s event has been set for June 22-23 in Luebeck.

Report: Julia Gohde ppi Media