How ZT Medien is making its digital and print workflows fit for the future

10.075

Circulation

29.000

Readers

1.873

available since

ZT Media AG

ZT Medien AG is a communications and media company from Switzerland. Its portfolio includes a daily newspaper, three weekly newspapers, a print shop and a radio station.

FOUNDED

1918

Zofingen

industry

Media

PRODUCTS USED

ZT Medien AG is an independent media company from Switzerland with one daily and several weekly newspapers, a radio station, and a print shop. To make the web presence of selected newspapers in its portfolio contemporary and to take the production of editorial content to a new level, the company works with SPRYLAB and the Purple Hub.

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Contemporary appearance sought for regional media

Originally, the Zofinger Tagblatt had an individually developed CMS system. However, this solution turned out to be expensive and difficult to operate: the editorial system could not be connected directly, updates were complicated, and setting up a payment system was difficult. But that was exactly what was crucial for the relaunch: The integration of paywall, store solution, e-paper, subscriber management and other interfaces was the basic prerequisite for a successful relaunch. Purple is now a digital publishing software that makes cross-media publishing easy and can be customized for all the company's specific requirements.

The basis for the new appearance of ZT Medien AG is the platform for the daily newspaper Zofinger Tagblatt, which provides the region around Zofingen with current news. Unlike the other weekly newspapers of ZT Medien AG, the Tagblatt is not free of charge and uses the freemium model for its online presence, in which content is partially chargeable. The website is the template for all the company's other media titles. It was therefore crucial during development to set the right course for modern content production.

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Perfect interaction thanks to Purple Hub

In order to meet the complex requirements of content creation for different channels, all interfaces and players must play skillfully into each other. From content creation to distribution to content monetization, Purple is designed to make the editorial team's job easier.

ZT Medien AG has already launched an app for the Zofinger Tagblatt using SPRYLAB's ePaper Publishing Software. The successful joint development and the great experience SPRYLAB has gained from working with many publishers throughout the German-speaking world tipped the scales in favor of the renewed collaboration. As a result, the app and website now also come from a single source. It was also important to the company not to develop a new stand-alone solution, but to design online products whose basic framework and interfaces to important publishing partners such as WoodWing are tried and tested.

The editorial team of the Zofinger Tagblatt consists of nine permanent editors in addition to several freelance journalists. This makes the new interface for external news content integrated on the site all the more important. This is because a significant proportion of the articles are sourced through partner publisher CH Media. Purple offers a content management system with an intuitive editor into which all content formats can be imported.

As an editorial system for the creation and distribution of print content, ZT Medien AG has already been using WoodWing for some time. Therefore, it was crucial that the seamless connection with Purple works. The editors can continue to work in their familiar system and with the familiar interface. Purple can be used to publish to all digital channels, while WoodWing takes over the print area.

Completely new for the Zofinger Tagblatt was the introduction of a store system on the website. For this, Purple's standard paywall solution is used and EDP is the partner for the Entitlement system as well as the webshop.

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Technical details

Seamless connection of WoodWing Studio

- Building a store system with EDP
- Development of an interface for agency content
- Easy curation of landing pages via the CMS possible

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Relaunch into the future

The relaunch of the websites of the three free weekly newspapers Wiggertaler, Solothurner Woche and Der Landanzeiger is another important step in the repositioning of ZT Medien AG in the Swiss media landscape. During development, it was particularly important to the company that the Zofinger Tagblatt platform, which was launched first, could serve as a blueprint for the other media in its portfolio. This meant that everything did not have to be developed from scratch for each title, which would have been very time-consuming and costly. Even more importantly, it is easier for staff and marketing to use and updates are simple. The only difference is that the three weekly newspapers only offer free articles from their respective catchment areas, so there is no paywall, store system or subscriber management.

The first step was the relaunch of the Wiggertaler, which serves the same catchment area as the Zofinger Tagblatt. By prominently linking selected articles from the Tagblatt to the Wiggertaler website, the Zofinger Tagblatt receives additional important traffic.

An important feedback from the editors of ZT Medien AG came shortly after the relaunch: "It is surprisingly easy". Even for colleagues who still have reservations about digital applications, the operation is very easy and intuitive.

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