The rock in the surf
BRIGITTE has been the market leader in fortnightly women's magazines in Germany for over 50 years. In an interview, the women in charge reveal the basis for the long-lasting success of the women’s magazine, what BRIGITTE stands for and what the plans for the coming year look like.
Participants: editor-in-chief Brigitte Huber, digital editor-in-chief Doris Brückner, publisher Iliane Weiß and Astrid Bleeker, deputy director brand print and head of brand event.
How does BRIGITTE fare in the market for fortnightly women's magazines?
Iliane Weiß: Last year we once again did very well in a still challenging market: we are still the clear market leader in the competitive field of classic fortnightly women's magazines for single sales + subscriptions. We were even able to improve slightly compared to the previous year.
Astrid Bleeker: "As the largest editorial team among German women's magazines, Brigitte Huber and her great team offer our readers excellent entertainment and reliable information, always combined with a strong utility value. About two million women want to read it every fortnight - that's the highest reach in the competition, across all age groups. We are a little proud of that.
Doris Brückner: We have built up an enormous digital reach in the past years, which also makes us very happy. In August we achieved a total reach of 6.4 million UU with BRIGITTE.de. That is unrivalled among the online offerings of fortnightly women's magazines.
Iliane Weiß, Brigitte Huber, Doris Brückner and Astrid Bleeker
What does BRIGITTE stand for?
Brigitte Huber: BRIGITTE has been standing up for women for almost 70 years and has established itself as THE leading medium for women. BRIGITTE accompanies the female zeitgeist. We set topics that affect women and initiate public debates, such as recently with our campaign #GleichesRechtfürEltern (Equal rights for parents).
Astrid Bleeker: Another example is BRIGITTE LIVE. The editorial team launched the series of talks in 2013. This year we had all three candidates for chancellor as guests and were shown live on NTV, among others. We have achieved an incredible media presence and reach. No other women's magazine brand manages that.
How are the topics and contents selected?
Brigitte Huber: The wishes and needs of our readers always come first when choosing topics. We regularly conduct magazine surveys and seek targeted exchange at our events because we want to know what interests our readers and what they like about and in our magazine and what they like less. In this way, and of course supplemented by the experience of our editors, we keep our finger on the pulse of the times and always know which topics are exciting now.
Iliane Weiß: The topics are prepared by the editors in a light and emotional way and are always first-class researched. Our strong journalistic content always also shows attitude. That's what our readers want and like. Thanks to our good reputation, we never have any difficulties in finding interesting interviewees or politicians for interviews or for our BRIGITTE LIVE Talks.
Astrid Bleeker: Our print and digital content is all produced in-house. This is a unique selling point in the competitive environment. Of course, our advertising customers also benefit from this. Our well-researched stories, our credibility, our reliability - all this naturally radiates to our customers.
A look into the future: What are the BRIGITTE highlights in 2022?
Brigitte Huber: We will relaunch BRIGITTE and BRIGITTE Digital next spring. I would say this will be the biggest change to the magazine in its almost 70-year history. The visual and content overhaul will make us more modern and louder, but at the same time we will ensure that BRIGITTE loses nothing of its radiance, relevance and significance. The relaunch will be accompanied by a major image campaign.
Doris Brückner: At BRIGITTE Digital we have been very successful with our themed weeks in recent years. We will continue this in 2022 with a Green Week, a Curvy Week, a Pride Week and a Wedding Week. We have a direct line to our users and want to listen to them in the coming year, encourage them and tell their stories!
Iliane Weiß: We also have a lot planned for the BRIGITTE ACADEMY next year. The many innovations we have launched this year despite the Corona crisis have all been very successful. These include, for example, our digital all-day events such as Style Day or our monthly digital sessions, some of which have more than 600 participants, and we want to continue with these next year. We also have big events planned again for 2022, such as the Finance Symposium and Style Day.
Astrid Bleeker: 2022 will be THE BRIGITTE year par excellence. Whether print, digital or live at our many beautiful events: everyone can become part of the BRIGITTE world. I would even say that no campaign for women can get past the BRIGITTE brand.
The original interview in German language was posted on the G+J website.