Niiu.de, unique personalised newspapers printed on paper

Nick — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:52:53 +0000

The new German start-up Niiu will soon launch their interpretation of a modern newspaper. Niiu readers have the possibility to select the content section of their choice. They prefer for instance the front page of The New York Times, the politics section of Tagesspiegel combined with the economic section of Handelsblatt business and select no sports at all. By using print-on-demand technology Niiu will create a unique paper version and deliver that to your doorstep. Thereby they try hold on to the romantic feeling of paper, an experience that remains important for many readers. Users pay via a flexible credit system which results in a prices between € 1,20 and € 1,80 per newspaper. Next to this revenue stream, advertisers will pay a higher price per ad due to the fact that they can be better targeted towards the reader’s interests. A part of the income will be redirected to the different news content providers that partner with Niiu. The traditional news sector is focused at value creation for the publishers: a one-size-fits-all newspaper at a fixed price that can be easily printed and distributed. In contrast the internet news business is aimed towards the user. Readers aren’t bounded to long-term subscription models with one content-provider but often hop from one news source to the other. Tools like RSS-readers help people to aggregate the content from the brands they like. Raising Pay-walls and blocking access to search engines doesn’t seem to be the right answer for classic news providers. We will have to see if Niiu manages to find a new niche within the news sector. But this unique businesses model that combines customized news with the classic paper experience looks already very promising.

Board of Innovation » personalization

Niiu.de, unique personalised newspapers printed on paper