Inquired: Rainer Kuhn
Q&A with Rainer Kuhn: How did the editor of a party magazine end up publishing a children's magazine? Rainer Kuhn: *Das neue Kult* has nothing to do with parties anymore! We've moved on from that...
Interview with Rainer Kuhn How does the publisher of a party magazine come up with a children's magazine?
Rainer Kuhn: The new Kult no longer has anything to do with parties! We stopped doing that a good six months ago because it was getting too boring.
Nice - but why KinderKult?
Kuhn: I have an eight-year-old and an eight-month-old daughter, and my partner Fredy Heritsch has a five-year-old son. Ideas like that probably just come at some point.
Media for children must meet pedagogical requirements. Can KinderKult fulfill them?
Kuhn: When I look at the market, I almost can't believe that these demands exist. We want to teach children older values in particular, but these are hardly supported in the magazine market. Values that parents would like to pass on to their children. In other words: Mary Poppins instead of Lara Croft, calm design instead of gaudy stimuli. This makes KinderKult practically a family magazine.
Marketing to children is controversial. There are plans in the EU to ban TV advertising for children. What do you think?
Kuhn: You're knocking down open doors at KinderKult. For example, we only place double-sided advertisements. Children can't tell the difference between the advertisement on the left and the content on the right. Barbie here, animal story there: that confuses them. We also don't accept ads for video games, which are not suitable for our target group. We reserve the right to reject advertisements if they do not fit in with our philosophy. KinderKult should not become an advertisement cow with some content, the magazine is too important to me for that. (sm)
Rainer Kuhn: The new Kult no longer has anything to do with parties! We stopped doing that a good six months ago because it was getting too boring.
Nice - but why KinderKult?
Kuhn: I have an eight-year-old and an eight-month-old daughter, and my partner Fredy Heritsch has a five-year-old son. Ideas like that probably just come at some point.
Media for children must meet pedagogical requirements. Can KinderKult fulfill them?
Kuhn: When I look at the market, I almost can't believe that these demands exist. We want to teach children older values in particular, but these are hardly supported in the magazine market. Values that parents would like to pass on to their children. In other words: Mary Poppins instead of Lara Croft, calm design instead of gaudy stimuli. This makes KinderKult practically a family magazine.
Marketing to children is controversial. There are plans in the EU to ban TV advertising for children. What do you think?
Kuhn: You're knocking down open doors at KinderKult. For example, we only place double-sided advertisements. Children can't tell the difference between the advertisement on the left and the content on the right. Barbie here, animal story there: that confuses them. We also don't accept ads for video games, which are not suitable for our target group. We reserve the right to reject advertisements if they do not fit in with our philosophy. KinderKult should not become an advertisement cow with some content, the magazine is too important to me for that. (sm)
