18th WORLD EDITORS FORUM
Session: Integration: the latest experiments in a multi- platform ageTitle: The multi-brand-strategy of Vorarlberger MedienhausSpeaker: Christian Ortner
Vienna, Reed Messe Wien
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64th WORLD NEWSPAPER CONGRESS19th WORLD EDITORS FORUM
www.wan-ifra.org/kiev2012
The multi-brand-strategy of Vorarlberger MedienhausSeparated brands, one goal
Christian OrtnerEditor-in-Chief Vorarlberger Nachrichten
World Editors Forum, October 14th, 2011
Vorarlberg, a special placeVorarlberg is Austrias most western state and the homemarket of Vorarlberger Medienhaus
371.000 inhabitants
Over 90% reach with all the house‘s products
190.000 daily readers of flagship-newspaper „VN“
100.000 daily Unique Clients on our newsportal VOL.at
Rolemodel for regional markets in Romania, Hungary
Our flagship brands
• Regional Newspaper• paid; 260 Euro/year • Founded 1945• 57% reach• 95% subscribers
• Regional Newsportal• free• Founded 1995• 64% reach• strong subbrands
(Internet-Provider, Mobile-Provider)
How we work
• Separate brand, team, Editor-in-Chief
• Editorial staff of 40 that focus on print production
• Online first with a right for „exclusive“ content
• Separate brand, team, Editor-in-Chief
• Editorial staff of 10• 4 Mobile Journalists • 4 Photographers that
service online and print
Why we prefer the two brand strategy
• Online and print are „different animals“• One deadline vs. 24/7• Different target groups• Newspaper is the „ultimate browser“,
gives a perfect overview in 30 minutes • Newspaper has a beginning and an end• Webportal uses live-coverage wherever possible –
every story should be a „developing story“ - 3-minute-rule
• Completely different time schedules• Rather fueling a tough internal contest than giving
competitors any space
Why we prefer the two brand strategy
• Immediate Interaction with online-users• Integrated newsrooms can‘t change the heartbeat of
print staff – there is danger that the onlineportal is not the main product or even that both channels lose.
But there is common sense …
• We use synergies– Of course „digital first“ – breaking news– photographers are pooled in the online team for all
media-brands– Every day by 6 a.m. 90 % of newspaper content is
somewhere on the onlineportal. But it‘s a different mix. And it‘s in the online editors decision.
– Online provides pooled databases (soccer-results, events, obituaries, …)
• We use each others marketing channels• To gain speed we reversed the production workflow
(from online to print) in hyperlocal stories and live events. Our hyperlocal Newspaper is made out of the website.