NPA breaks the news with personalised paper

Dawn of a new news day in Australia as Newspaper Publishers Association produces personalised newspaper.

The NPA (formerly known as PANPA) recently published a newspaper that it is individualised for its members in three separate sections. The personalisation is featured on the front page, as part of a special coverage of digital printing technology and then in an open letter to each member.

The project was made possible using Océ’s JetStream digital print technology in a joint project between Océ and NPA. According to Océ, it is the most extensive personalisation undertaken for a newspaper, according to executives of Océ, the leading digital print technology provider for the newspaper industry.

NPA chief executive Mark Hollands (pictured) described the project as moving with the times. “Our aim in producing this personalised publication is to demonstrate the capabilities of the technology, and to open discussion at an industry level about possible new revenue streams for the industry,” he said.

“Opportunities from short-run, digitally-printed newspapers are emerging in Europe. Publishers can start to think about how to create high-context newspapers, possibly for individual advertisers who see value in personalised newspapers for their own clients.”

Hollands said his members still had some reservations about digital printing, including cost per copy, quality of production and the extent of revenue opportunities from personalisation of products.

“This has been a great opportunity to show the industry how far digital printing has come,” Hollands said. “Océ has been a great supporter in the project.”

Brand niiu day for newspapers

Personalised newspaper expert spreads the word to Australia.

Robert Koeckeis (pictured) of Océ is the driving force behind what he claims to be the world’s first truly personalised newspaper, the Niiu project in Germany.

Currently, 30 newspapers are involved in the project, including the New York Times, International Herald Tribune, Germany’s Bild and the Washington Times. The project was launched by a data management company, using their own software combined with Océ software.

The newspaper, called Niiu (translated as “new”), offers various segments taken from any of the newspapers in the coalition, which can be packaged as one unit, using pages selected from the newspapers’ websites. Newspapers involved receive royalties for the number of pages which are used.

According to Koeckeis, the newspaper has gone from 24 pages to 28 pages already, to accommodate interested advertisers.

Recently in Australia to speak to potential local customers for the Océ JetStream range, Koeckeis says the Niiu project is a promising model for the future of newspapers.

“To survive, newspapers will be looking at several different models, some on line, some involving print,” Koeckeis said. “The Niiu project is one of these and there is considerable interest from newspaper publishers around the world.”

Though the media landscape differs considerably in Australia, Koeckeis believes that such a project could be a success locally. He added that one of the strengths of the German experiment, which is confined at this stage to Berlin alone, is the German distribution network, which takes advantage of an existing home delivery system.

“The paper must be home-delivered, given that it’s personalised. In Australia you would need to streamline the existing home delivery system and, initially, perhaps confine it to small areas of a capital city, but there is no reason why it could not take off here,” he said.