Verlagsgruppe Handelsblatt

German publishing group Verlagsgruppe Handelsblatt GmbH & Co. KG (VHB) publishes a range of business media.

With the digital transformation of the media industry being fully underway, the Verlagsgruppe Handelsblatt GmbH & Co. KG (VHB) needed to take the next step into a digital media landscape. As it was unclear what models would be profitable going forward, VHB came to us.

Digitalization and AI

Strategy and Growth

Technology, Media, and Telecommunication

Lesezeit 3 Minutes

Zentrale Ergebnisse

A "fremium" approach was introduced

with "Digitalpass" (a digital passport) that would bundle all VHB´s digital products into an all-digital subscription with multiple access levels.

In just under 6 months

project completed.

Successful rollout

of the digital passport.

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The challenge

With the digital transformation of the media industry being fully underway, the Verlagsgruppe Handelsblatt GmbH & Co. KG (VHB) needed to take the next step into a digital media landscape.
As it was unclear what models would be profitable going forward, VHB came to us.

Package of newspapers with one stating world business.

The solution

Our consultants worked with the publisher´s internal project team to develop a viable roadmap for digital transformation of all the relevant media. To address the core project challenge of developing an extensive paywall concept, our experts analysed paid content models that have proved successful around the world and used these to derive best-practice approaches that would work at VHB.

Together with the VHB leadership team, the consultants developed a future-viable digital portfolio comprising multimedia content, tools and personal services. With a detailed business plan from us to demonstrate that the new strategic direction would be profitable, the VHB management board and owners were persuaded this was the right course to take.

Key results

A "fremium" approach was introduced, with "Digitalpass" (a digital passport) that would bundle all VHB´s digital products (premium content, a dedicated app, e-paper and access to the archive) into an all-digital subscription with multiple access levels.

Completed in just under six months in 2014, the project derived key benefit from the digital experience of our team in media and other industries, and this expertise was a major contributor to the successful rollout of the digital passport.

As part of a project that lasted just six months, the team used its digital experience from the media sector and other industries to make a substantial contribution to the success of the Digitalpass introduction.
Jochen Bohle
Head of Digital Transformation of Handelsblatt