Insights

Study by the PR-COM Research Lab (covering Germany, Austria, Switzerland, in German language available)

Munich, July 16, 2024 – Declining sales, smaller customer budgets and users unwilling to pay – this is what more than half of the media professionals surveyed in a quantitative study by PR-COM Research Lab report. The transformation of the information sector is forcing a rethink. The results show that pioneering companies have already set the course and are making their business model fit for the future.

The media landscape is in upheaval, previous business models are at the end of their life cycle: the economic situation is forcing many decision-makers in media companies to rethink. Making their own company fit for the future is therefore the strongest driver for the search for new financing strategies, as confirmed by 74% of respondents from media companies, publishing houses and editorial offices in German-speaking countries. The main reason for this is the poor economic situation. 63 % of those surveyed reported falling sales figures, 55 % reported smaller budgets from advertising customers and 37 % reported gaps due to the loss of subscriptions. In addition, the rising price level and higher wage costs are causing problems for every second company.

Qualitative content

Content remains a complex and decisive factor for financial viability. It presents those responsible with the trade-off between creating content themselves in order to safeguard the brand image and retain users, and sharing content in order to reduce costs and increase information density. For example, 31% of respondents stated that their own company shared content with other media providers. 71% rated shared content as important to very important in order to provide sufficient information for users.

Setting up a paywall is another financing strategy. 43% of those surveyed agreed that they wanted to use paid content in their company immediately. However, the users’ willingness to pay is a decisive factor here, but this was only rated as low to very low on average. The proportion of respondents who assumed that their users were highly or very highly willing to pay was only 13%.

Data monetization and e-learning offers

Technologies and formats (such as competitions and whitepapers) for obtaining and monetizing user data have arrived on the media market. According to the study, 62% of advertisers request this data in order to evaluate the effectiveness of advertising measures. For example, 43% of respondents confirmed that their company uses competitions and whitepapers to generate user data.

The diversification of offerings (for example in the form of e-learning offerings) is another financing strategy in the media sector that is currently used primarily by medium-sized and larger media providers. 34% of respondents stated that their company provides e-learning offerings in the form of management, communication or cultural training.

Large companies as pioneers

The use of new forms of financing increases with the size of the company. Tracking technologies, data generation formats and e-learning offerings correlate positively with company size. Large companies in the media sector are therefore pioneers for the financing change in the industry.

In competition with large companies, the topic of cooperation is therefore becoming increasingly relevant for SMEs. Sharing IT systems and legally compliant platforms is an important instrument for reducing development costs, compensating for financing gaps and limiting legal risks. One in three media companies already cooperates in order to generate these synergy effects. 69% percent of cooperations lead to an increase in IT security.

“We collected the data for this quantitative study as part of an online survey in March 2024, in which 91 media professionals in publishing houses, media companies and editorial offices took part,” explains Dr. Jona van Laak, Research Director at PR-COM. “Following on from previous studies, the data clearly shows how strong the pressure to transform is in the industry. No one can afford to rest on their laurels anymore.”

“Over more than a century, the media landscape in German-speaking countries has developed into an international showcase industry in terms of diversity and quality,” explains Alain Blaes, CEO of PR-COM. “While many large media companies have already flipped the switch, medium-sized companies are increasingly facing financing problems. No one can afford to stand idly by and watch journalistic content fall into fewer and fewer hands. That is why we are all responsible – as readers, as PR managers and as advertisers – for preserving this diversity.”

The study is focusing on the German speaking market, hence only available in German. In case of interest, please download here.

Further information on the Research Lab can be found here: https://pr-com.de/research