Online portal Watson.de launches on Thursday based on Swiss model
The news portal Watson.de launches in Germany on Thursday. It is aimed at a younger audience and aims to provide them with news, entertainment, and discussion.
Advertising marketer Ströer launches Watson.de with 25 editors in Berlin. "Our target group is the Generation Mobile, i.e. people who have grown up with smartphones and social media," said Marc Schmitz, the Ströer managing director responsible for media content, to the DPA news agency. He said the portal was targeting the group of around 20 to 35-year-olds.
The content is free for users, the portal is financed by advertising. Schmitz sees a gap in the market for a full journalistic program for this target group: "It will be the triad: news, entertainment, debate." The listed media company already owns Germany's widest-reach news portal, T-online.de
Concept adopted from Watson.ch
Ströer has taken over the editorial concept, design and technology under license from the Swiss portal Watson.ch, which was launched in 2014. The name came about during the title search from playfulness with the English phrase "What's on?" - in German: Was ist los? - as Watson.ch Managing Director Michael Wanner says.
The portal works with lots of photos and videos and presents itself ("We about us") as a click section, for example: "Do you know these 10 facts about the news portal Watson?" "Our model for success: we speak the language of the target group that has grown up with social media and adapt to the usage habits of this generation," says Wanner. "Our content is prepared the way the social media generation is used to - with all facets of digital storytelling." Ströer is following the same line with Watson.de.
Watson.ch not yet in the profit zone
Watson.ch is not yet in the black after four years, but wants to reach this goal in the next two years, as Wanner says. The development is going well: "We currently reach 1.5 million unique clients and 11 million visits per month, and the trend is rising," says Wanner. "In January 2018, it was plus 23 percent in visits compared to the same month last year and plus 16 percent in unique clients." Ströer does not provide figures. "In terms of business and reach, we have ambitious plans, but we don't comment on that," Schmitz said. Watson.de wants to play in a league with portals for a similar target group, such as Bento, the Spiegel Online offshoot for the younger target group, he said. Ströer is aiming for more than ten million visits a month. "We want to get up to cruising altitude this year," says Schmitz.
Unlike the Swiss, Watson.de has Ströer, the biggest online marketer, behind it. According to plans, the portal is to be launched at 6:00 a.m. on Thursday, March 23. (SDA)
