Brand Eins
brand eins Verlag GmbH & co
Wirtschaftsmagazin
Hamburg, Germany
Schauenburgerstrasse 21, 20095
Email: briefe@brandeins.de
- Category: Architecture, Art, Design, Visual Art
- Periodicity: Monthly
- Language: German
- Format: 212 x 280 mm
- Price: 6 €
- Web: http://www.brandeins.de
Founded in 1999
Exclusive Interview
Brand Eins
What is your magazine about?
Brand Eins is an economic magazine. It's focus/main theme/ is change.
Who’s behind the project? Tell us about the founders, their backgrounds and their motivations!
In 1999, brand eins was founded by Oliver Borrman, Volker Walther and Gabriele Fischer. Mr. Borrmann and Mr. Walther are entrepeneurs in other branches who want to assist the project of Gabriele Fischer and her editorial team - which is an economic magazine that looks and thinks differently, and puts its emphasis on the changes in an economy and a society that take place along the way from the industrial age to an era in which knowledge becomes the most important factor in success.
How do you produce one issue? How much time do you spend on it? How big is your team?
The editorial staff consists of ten employees and many freelancers (authors and photographers) and art director Mike Meiré (from the agency Meiré and Meiré) and his team. The actual production takes about six days, in the three weeks before that the stories are plannend, researched and written.
What have been the important steps in the life of your magazine?
1. The issue 03/2000 was an important step for brand eins because we wrote about the Cluetrain-manifest and stated our opinion / standing. 2.: The issue 07/2005 was important as well because it dealt with a new difinition of the word "work" and the idea of a basic income (for everybody?) and we raised the price of the copy by 30 percent which was a big step towards becoming a profitable enterprize.
Which are the key ingredients for the success of your magazine?
An editorial design that distinguishes brand eins from the competition at first sight. Articles have a high standard. In fact high standard of quality is very important to us. And a clear stand / position / attitude that is obvious to the reader.
What are the difficulties you are confronted with? What would be “the” thing to help the magazine to improve?
The greatest problems we were faced with, were permanent financial difficulties during the first six years of establishing brand eins. What helped us were our readers who have accompanied us from the start with suggestions, support and criticism.
Where do you want the magazine to be in five years?
We'll be happy if brand eins keeps on developing the way it has been for the last five years.
Tell us about your audience! Who are the readers of your magazine?
People who are open to change and the future and not afraid of it. Those are entrepeneurs as well as freelancers in every branch of business, but also public servants, teachers, managers. Our readers are aged 16 - 85, most of them are 25 - 40 years old. And almost 40 percent of our readers are women.
Is remaining independent important to you? Is it part of the strategy?
Yes.
What’s your relationship with advertisement? Does it influence your content? Do you care about advertising-driven-editorials?
We draw a strict line between advertisement and editorial part. We are very much opposed to advertising-driven-editorials.
What do you think of your issue 01, when you look back at it?
It was a good start that already showed a lot of what became possible later on.
Magazine favorite(s) that inspired you in your career.
Brand Eins doesn't have an antetype / a model - it's a magazine that all of us here like to read ourselves - and that's the reason we're making it the way we do.
Do you keep old copies of magazines? If so, what is your favorite in your collection?
We have framed the cover of each issue and they hang in the corridor and all issues are displayed. My personal favorites are the above-mentioned issues with the focus on Cluetrain resp. work, but also: "too much" (07/2007), "time/realtime life" (03/2008) and "education" (05/2008).
How many magazines do you buy / get / read each month? Do you qualify yourself a maniac?
I read a lot of background information, check the magazines that are considered our competition, look for nice articles a lot and enjoy reading books / novels. No, I guess I'm not a real maniac.
We are compiling answers from some of the most innovative magazine makers around the world today. Who else should we ask?
Tyler Brulé. I can't think of any more because I'm bad at remembering names.
Answered by Gabriele Fischer (editor in chief)
Magazine: brand eins
Email: gabriele_fischer@brandeins.de
Date: 05-11-2008
Publisher
brand eins Verlag GmbH & co
Schauenburgerstrasse 21, 20095, Hamburg, Germany
Phone +49 0 40 32 33 16 70, Fax +49 0 40 32 33 16 80
Email: verlag@brandeins.de
- 2044
- 5180
- 2482
- 662
