Twin Editions: Big and Small for the Berliner Morgenpost

The ad is clear: Twin editions of the Berliner Morgenpost, now at a kiosk.

One newspaper, Berliner Morgenpost, two daily formats, and one broadsheet edition for weekends.

In Berlin, readers will now have a choice, read it as a compact or as a broadsheet.

The new tabloid edition, which sells for 1.30 euros, same as the broadsheet, has twice as many pages as the broadsheet version. The first edition includes 52 pages, with all the content of the broadsheet, and says Erdmann “and some extra details.”

This is an interesting and unorthodox strategy, so I asked editor in chief Carsten Erdmann about how this decision came about:

A chat with Editor-in-Chief Carsten Erdmann

Mario: Why did your company decide to do this investment in print?

Carsten:

In recent years, we at the Berliner Morgenpost have invested in digital and – for example - built one of the best interactive teams in Europe. However, I’m also really happy our new owners believe in print publishing and are willing to make further investments in the print market.

The Berlin print market is the most competitive market in Europe, and the Berliner Morgenpost has conducted a lot of research to determine the best strategy. One major finding of our research was that many of the newspaper readers in Berlin and a subtiantial part of our subscribers desired a smaller (compact) format.

As such, the Berliner Morgenpost is expanding its product palett offerings: the first edition of a compact version of the title - the Berliner Morgenpost Kompakt - was published on 31 October 2016.

Mario: What's the goal of this new product?

Carsten:

Our new product is designed for urban readers and the numerous commuters on public transport. It contains the same content as the broadsheet version, spread out over twice as many pages, and will be published from Monday through Friday parallel to the broadsheet edition of the Berliner Morgenpost. Subscribers will be given the option of changing over to the compact version on 7 November 2016

Mario: How have you promoted the new product?

Carsten:

In order to promote our new format, we have also produced a commercial and a Berlin anthem titled “Das ist Berlin” (That’s Berlin), which is also available on iTunes, Amazon and Spotify. You can see the video and song at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORroLqHB_XM

Mario: What's the reaction for this first day launch of the compact?

Carsten:

The compact version has been extraordinarily well received by the newsroom, and the initial response from readers and social media has also been extremely encouraging. Although it’s obviously too early to report on sales figures for the compact version, the very positive first reception gives us strong reasons to be optimistic here.