• by Ray Schultz , 5 hours ago

Axel Springer is planning to add a third business to the two it already has — journalism and media marketing — while doubling its value within five years.  

“We have to build a high-margin, hyper-growth business beyond journalism and marketing media, a third pillar as a strategic hedge,” said Mathias Döpfner, CEO of the company, speaking during a strategy meeting attended by 100 executives in Berlin. 

“Journalism remains our core, but it’s evolving,” Döpfner added. “The business model of maximizing clicks and advertising is over! We must focus on deep and long-term relationships with our users.”

That would entail increasing direct access to its journalism with no outside platforms in the middle.  

“Direct traffic is the proof that users choose Axel Springer,” Döpfner argued. “Dependence on search and social is a weakness. Owning the audience is a strength.” 

And, this third pillar would also be built on AI, a technology Döpfner has long championed. “Digital is the new print,” he said. “AI is the new digital.”

Axel Springer’s first pillar consists of journalistic brands like Politico, Business Insider, Bild and Welt.The second is media marketing.  “Our second pillar, Bonial, Idealo and Awin, is our economic backbone,” Döpfner admitted.  

Discussing journalism, Döpfner said it is essential to build trust. “We live in an age of permanent uncertainty. Where doubt is the default. And the deepest human need — more than speed, more than convenience, more than anything else — is trust.”