1. Services
Magazines
Television
Books
Digital
Shows
Radio & Music
International

3. 04 Contents
Television Shows Books International
Good news, bad news. And
the hard work that goes into
presenting it reputably and
successfully 
Every evening Peter Kloeppel, Ulrike
von der Groeben and their colleagues
face the cameras. Whether for political
headlines, business updates, or the
latest sports scores, RTL Aktuell is the
channel’s foremost news show. We
accompany the team and show how
much hard work goes into creating a
few minutes of TV news.
Exciting shows, popular docu-
mentaries and happy winners
in over 20 countries 
Without American Idol pop star Kelly
Clarkson would probably still be the
girl next door from Texas. And without
L‘amour est dans le pré many a French
farmer would still be going to bed alone
after mucking out the stables.This
applies beyond France and America too,
of course, as the most successful shows
are one thing above all: worldwide audi-
ence favorites!
From draft manuscript to
bestseller:The long road to
producing a successful book 
Random House is the world’s biggest
trade book publisher, based in New York.
The books of many international best-
selling authors and Nobel Prize winners
are published here –including The
Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. We
follow him and his editor on a book’s
path from initial idea to market launch.
Opening up growth markets:
Corporate Centers in China,
Brazil and India 
On the fringes of Bertelsmann’s global
management meeting we interviewed
Annabelle Yu Long,Thomas Macken-
brock and Pankaj Makkar –the heads
of the Corporate Centers in China, Brazil
and India –to discuss their interna-
tional careers, their multifaceted roles
and recognizing and tapping into the
opportunity of growth markets, espe-
cially in this age of new media.
06 14 3022
experience!
05
Radio & MusicDigital ServicesMagazines
Clicking into the future: How a
French radio station wins new
listeners daily 
Few media face such great challenges
as radio at this point.The days of long
radio programs are gone, as are those
of endlessly repeating loops of hits. But
what needs to be done differently today?
What opportunities does Web 2.0 offer?
The team of the French radio station Fun
Radio knows what ideas will make them
fit for the future –and are gaining new
listeners in the process. We also take
a look at BMG’s music rights manage-
ment business –a response to the rapid
changes in the music industry.
Thomas Rabe:
‘An interplay of continuity
and change’ 
The CEO of Bertelsmann talks about new
strategies, internationality and growth.
Success with new media:
The young qeep team
develops fresh ideas for
mobile phones 
When Bertelsmann invests several
millions of euros in a Cologne start-up,
it has good reasons for doing so.The
young team of founders has made the
right move at the right time with the
idea of transferring gaming and friend
networks from the Internet to cell
phones.
Tailor-made solutions
for services and customers
worldwide 
More than 63,000 employees in
40 countries are hard at work serving
business customers in many different
industries. But what goes into producing
a product and then shipping it to over
180 countries? Who is involved in the
many different services behind this
process? And how is it possible to coor-
dinate such a huge logistics network?
A behind-the-scenes look at a company
that tends to stay in the background
as a service provider.
China, Spain, India, France:
G + J magazines also have a
strong international presence 
It’s common knowledge that, with titles
like stern, Geo and Brigitte, Gruner+Jahr
is the home of fascinating magazines in
Germany. But what does the publishing
company have on the market in other
countries? We spoke to readers world-
wide about their favorite magazines
and discovered a surprising diversity of
titles –from an art magazine in India to
China’s most popular fashion title.
36 46
68
52 60
experience!

4. 06 Television 07
To the point–
RTL Aktuell
The news with Peter Kloeppel and Ulrike von
der Groeben: relevant and close to the people,
expert and easily understood. 20 minutes
that involve many hours of work for correspon-
dents around the world and an editorial
team of 15 in Cologne
Text: Steffi Kammerer. Photos: Arne Weychardt
I
t’s 5:53 p.m. Editorial Director Gerhard Kohlenbach broods
over the schedule, tallying up the seconds. A young colleague
hands him a report: A model has died following a beauty
treatment. He glances at it, shakes his head, then he asks
those around him: “Should we say, ‘Merkel stays’ or ‘Merkel
stayed’? ‘Stays.’”
An ordinary yet exciting news day in the RTL Aktuell news-
room in Cologne, with a little over 45 minutes to go before the
show goes on air. The German Chancellor is visiting Athens
today, awaited by protesters bearing Molotov cocktails. And in
Roswell, New Mexico, the Austrian Felix Baumgartner is poised
to break the sound barrier in a free-fall jump from an altitude of
39 km. For hours, it has been unclear whether he can make the
attempt as the wind is unfavorable. For the program, this means
a potential hole of about two minutes. An alternative to the live
report is prepared – a visit to Barack Obama’s grandmother in
Kenya. A
Television

5. 08 Television
As always, the editorial staff began plan-
ning the news during the 10:30 a.m. conference
call. Colleagues at the studios from Munich
to Hamburg had proposed various items, and
the foreign desk offered reports on Syria and
Pakistan. As every morning, Kohlenbach had
already read six daily newspapers, ten online
news sites, and reviewed the headlines sent out
by the newswires since midnight: “Otherwise I
don’t feel I’m up to speed for the day.”
His two chief editors arrive equally well pre-
pared: Peter Kloeppel, who also anchors “RTL
Aktuell,” reads the news online from 7:00 a.m.;
Michael Wulf, Managing Director of infoNet-
work and Managing Chief Editor of RTL Aktuell,
has even installed a TV in his bathroom at home
so he doesn’t miss anything while shaving.
“News is my hobby,” says Wulf, adding he can’t
imagine going a day without. “There’s no other
way if you want to stay in the loop. Besides, I
wouldn’t want it any other way; my work and
personal interests overlap in that regard.”
The next conference is at 2:00 p.m., and
at this one the team more clearly defines the
program’s look, the length of the items, and
the overall structure. Kohlenbach takes his cue
partly from how long his colleagues talk about a
given item. Everyone is talking about Baumgart-
ner’s jump through the sound barrier, so he gets
2 minutes 10 seconds. Rising electricity prices
are given 1 minute 30 seconds.
The Editorial Director’s desk is next to the
conference table in the open-plan office. He sits
facing three screens: on the right a live ticker,
“The show has
grown up. In some
ways it has become
more political and
relevant”
Peter Kloeppel, Chief Editor of RTL Television and
RTL Aktuell anchorman
Mediengruppe RTL
Deutschland
Facts and Figures 
Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland
includes the free-to-air TV
channels RTL Television, VOX,
n-tv and RTL Nitro, holdings in
RTL II, Super RTL and the three
digital channels RTL Crime,
Passion and RTL Living.
The morning starts with research online and in
numerous print media.The morning conference
starts after this at 10:30. All the external edito-
rial staff participate remotely
What are the latest news develop-
ments? What’s happening in the
world? And what are the results
of the editorial team’s research
in the newsroom? Topics that will
be discussed at the conference at
2:00 p.m.
2:00 p.m.
10:30 a.m.
09
News & Magazines 
RTL Aktuell, RTL Punkt 12, RTL
Nachtjournal, VOX Nachrich-
ten, news on n-tv. RTL Group’s
German television channels of-
fer a variety of news programs,
plus tabloid-style magazine
programs like Exklusiv, Explosiv
and Prominent! The broadcast
center in the Deutz district of
Cologne is a state-of-the-art
building with high-tech digital
studios mounted on springs to
protect them from vibrations.
The building is equipped with
emergency generators.
Information everywhere: in the
newsroom, news channels are
running on countless screens
as presenters and editors meet
again to decide the main topics
of the show
on the left the incoming reports, in the middle
his schedule, or running order. He quietly reads
out the scripts to himself again and again. Every
sentence has to sound good: “It’s a nerve-wrack-
ing day today in Roswell, New Mexico.” He edits:
“It is a truly nerve-wracking day.”
Peter Kloeppel arrives and calls out: “Es-
ther’s on the Web.” He has posted the news of a
colleague’s early retirement on Facebook. One
has to take the time to give people their due. As
always, he was in make-up by 5:40 p.m. A quick
four minutes is all it takes to prepare his face for
television.
Kohlenbach is also focused, but calm. “We
never really start the show without still being
short of reports,” he says. “6:30 to 6:45 p.m.
is the most stressful time for me. Before that
nothing’s really in yet. Then everything starts
happening at once. Half of the reports still need
some changes.” Even during the show, some-
thing changes a little virtually every time, he
says, but that is routine. “Of the team that are
there today, 80 percent were here during our
coverage of the Iraq war and 9/11. This puts
me at ease, too – everyone here knows what’s
important and what needs to be done.”
Kohlenbach is responsible for the balance of
the program. “We usually manage it by consen-
sus, but in the end I have to make the decisions.
From 5:30 p.m., we don’t discuss things much
anymore. At that point there has to be one per-
son in charge who says that a piece needs to be
ten seconds longer or shorter. The next morning
we can talk about everything – including wheth-
er I made a mistake.” He has been Managing
Editor since 2002 and also Editorial Director for
five years, running a 15-strong editorial team.
They are all on an informal first-name basis.
Some of them have worked together for many
years. Kohlenbach has been with RTL Televi-
sion since 1994. When Peter Kloeppel’s 20th
anniversary as anchorman of RTL Aktuell was
celebrated in spring 2012 there were not only
official speeches, but also a very private party
where the editorial team treated their Chief Edi-
tor to a rousing rendition of songs with rewritten
lyrics, accompanied by weatherman Christian
Häckl on the piano. When Kloeppel went down
on bended knee in thanks and started a Mexican
wave, many a tear was shed, says sports present-
er Ulrike von der Groeben who has co-hosted
thousands of programs with him.
When she is out and about in Cologne, people
often ask her to “Say hello to Mr. Kloeppel for
me,” or ask “Is he really as nice in real life?”
“Yes, he is,” she tells them. “He’s very well
brought-up. And despite all his success he’s
someone who’s not above saying thank you.”
She has been married to her husband only a
year longer than she has been sitting next to
2:45 p.m.
A

6. 10 Television
Kloeppel in the studio. Both are rarely ever sick,
and they’ve even run the New York Marathon
together.
Since Fall 2010, the RTL Television’s news
programs have been produced in a broadcast
center that is second to none. The light-filled
building with a digitized high-tech studio is in
the Deutz district of Cologne, just behind the
railroad station. To minimize vibrations, the
side away from the tracks was chosen, and the
studios are mounted on metal springs. All risks
have been hedged against, and all systems are
backed up with emergency generators.
The “newsdesk,” the editorial control center
with close to 20 employees, coordinates all
programs. This is where the central editorial
calendar and the list of reporters who have been
deployed hangs on the wall alongside a large
map of the world. This is also where longer-
term forward planning takes place, where major
events like the election, the Olympics, or the
starts of major lawsuits are entered in the calen-
dar. A special hotline takes calls with breaking
news that require a rapid response: Osama bin
Laden has been killed. Or at 04:00 a.m.: Michael
Jackson has died. Just a few doors down is the
“newspool,” where all the footage is edited and
audio is added, by several shifts of colleagues.
In the senior editors’ section, Peter Kloeppel
and Michael Wulf have offices next to each
other with a view of the Rhine. The two make
a good team, occasionally even finishing each
other’s sentences. They have worked together
since 1990, when Wulf was Managing Editor and
Kloeppel was a New York correspondent. They
have produced RTL Aktuell together since 2004.
Asked why neither of them ever went elsewhere,
Kloeppel says: “The workplace atmosphere. And
we have great freedom when it comes to the
realization of topics.” The hierarchies are flat,
he says. “If a suggestion is good, we go ahead
with it.”
“News is my hobby.
My work and interests overlap”
Michael Wulf, Managing Director of infoNetwork
In the newsroom, the first reports are
edited and audio is added
A camera crew
in Bonn quickly
procures original
sound bites for
a report
RTL Anchorman
Peter Kloeppel 
Born in 1958, he studied agri-
cultural science at Göttingen
from 1978 to 1983 and trained
at the Henri Nannen School of
Journalism in Hamburg. After
that, he was an editor and later
studio manager at RTL-plus in
Bonn and RTL correspondent
in New York. Since 1992 he has
been anchorman of RTL Aktuell
and since 2004 also Chief Edi-
tor of RTL Television.
4:00 p.m. 5:15 p.m.
11
Kloeppel won the Adolf Grimme Award for
his coverage of September 11th, 2001. In 2007
RTL Aktuell won the German Television Award
for best news program. For several years, the
program has outperformed heute (ZDF) in the
total audience ratings, and they’ve always been
the most-watched news show among younger
audiences. With a total of nearly four million
viewers, RTL Aktuell is Germany’s second
most popular news program, even overtaking
Tagesschau (ARD) on some days.
“The mix has to be right,” says Wulf. Domes-
tic and foreign news, not only politics, but also
coverage of services, medicine and sports. “We
deliberately try to stay close to the people, which
is probably what sets us apart from Tagesschau.
We want to give the viewers news that plays
a role in their lives. We call that ‘news to use.’
Each item has something special about it.”
The two chief editors agree that a classic
news item now initially reaches users via the In-
ternet or the radio. “We’re here to provide more
in-depth coverage. TV news should provide
added value, selecting stories from the flood of
information and putting them in context.” To
gain orientation, the audience needs faces that
present the news, says Wulf. Pointing to Peter
Kloeppel, he says: “And he is a brand that view-
ers have known for 20 years. When your brand is
that good, you have to cultivate it.”
RTL Aktuell’s Anchorman Peter Kloeppel only needs
about four minutes in makeup before going on air
The jacket’s been straightened.The mike is working. The spotlights are on.
Kloeppel is already in the studio preparing to present the show
Of course, the show has also evolved over the
past 20 years, says Kloeppel, “It has grown up.
In some ways more political, but definitely more
relevant, because we ask ourselves with each
topic: Is this just an isolated incident or is it an
issue that affects a lot of people?” The staff are
also more experienced, he says; their journalis-
tic expertise has grown.
6:04 p.m. Another 41 minutes before the pro-
gram goes on air. On the screen, the news A
6:25 p.m.
6:40 p.m.
Who’s who on the
RTL Aktuell editorial
team? 
As chief editors, Peter Kloeppel
and Michael Wulf (above, also
Managing Director infoNetwork)
are responsible for the content
of RTL Aktuell and take the
most important decisions.
Kloeppel also anchors the eve-
ning show alongside Ulrike von
der Groeben.The editorial team
in the newsroom researches the
news content.Their immedi-
ate boss is Editorial Director
Gerhard Kohlenbach. Reporters
and camera crews go out on
location together. Foreign cor-
respondents report from around
the world. And the connect-
ing link between the editorial
team and the technicians is
the Managing Editor, who is
responsible for the coordination
of all processes.

7. 12 Television
20 minutes of primetime news is hard work.
Many reports aren’t completed until after the
program has already begun. So when the red
“on air” light goes on, it doesn’t mean that
everything is done and dusted. The show is
deliberately kept flexible to keep things as
up-to-date as possible
items Gerhard Kohlenbach has approved are
marked in green. There aren’t many yet – only
the start of the program is sorted. Kloeppel has
taken off his jacket and is polishing his opening
lines.
6:13 p.m. Not a sound is heard except the
printer and the clatter of fingers on keyboards.
6:18 p.m. “Baumgartner gets 1:42,” says
Kohlenbach. “He’s starting at around 7:15 p.m.,
we won’t be able to show that live, but at least
the balloon should already be pretty full in the
picture.”
Kloeppel and von der Groeben have to get
going soon. They are not allowed to use the el-
evator in case it gets stuck. At the entrance to the
ground floor studio the red “on air” lamp is illu-
minated. The presenter of the previous program
has just signed off. Changes are quickly made
to the set. The texts that were being edited until
just moments ago appear on the teleprompter.
Dozens of spotlights shine from the ceiling and
camera cranes are adjusted. The room is bright
green, but the TV viewers at home will only see
the usual studio background.
Kloeppel and von der Groeben are hooked up
with microphones. 6:42 p.m. Groeben plucks a
bit of lint off her sleeve. Her face can be seen on
one of the monitors. A dozen colleagues sit next
door in the control room. In the next few min-
utes the most common phrase heard here will
be: “Why isn’t the item here yet?” The anchors
are connected to the director by a small ear
microphone. They both laugh. “Ten seconds,”
shouts the floor manager. “Five.”
The next morning it starts all over again. A
new day with fresh news. Five days later, Felix
Baumgartner is back on the news agenda. This
time he will succeed in his record jump. 2
In reality the set is green, but viewers at home see a clear blue backdrop behind Peter
Kloeppel and Ulrike von der Groeben as they present the nightly news
How was the show? Debriefing at the late conference.
Kloeppel and editorial colleagues take a critical look at the
recording
“We try to be close to
the people”
Michael Wulf, Managing Director of infoNetwork
6:45 p.m.
6:50 p.m.
7:30 p.m.
Presenter Ulrike
von der Groeben 
Born in 1957 in Mönchenglad-
bach, the TV presenter studied
German language and literature,
and in 1985/86 worked as an
intern at what would become
RTL Radio Luxembourg. She
then became a member of the
editorial team on the RTL-plus
breakfast magazine show
Guten Morgen Deutschland
(Good Morning Germany) and
the presenter of Sportshop.
Since January 1989 she has
been an editor and presenter
on RTL Aktuell.
13
Luxembourg-based RTL Group (“RTL” stands for Radio Television
Luxembourg) is Europe’s leading entertainment group with shares
in 53 television channels and 28 radio stations in ten countries, as
well as in production companies around the world. Its TV opera-
tions include RTL Television in Germany, M6 in France and the RTL
channels in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Croatia and
Hungary, as well as Antena 3 in Spain.The company also operates
India’s Big RTL Thrill channel as a joint venture and holds shares in
the National Media Group in Russia.
RTL Group was formed in 2000 from the merger of CLT-UFA with
the British company Pearson TV.The following year, Bertelsmann
acquired a majority stake in RTL Group through a stock swap.
RTL Group’s production arm, FremantleMedia, is one of the larg-
est international production companies outside the U.S. Each year,
FremantleMedia produces more than 9,100 hours of programming
for 62 countries (more on page 14 ff).
Multifaceted,
international, popular
Shows, series, news, movies, sports, talk shows,
magazines. RTL Group’s broadcasters are as multi-
faceted as they are successful–and they are
established in ten countries, with offerings for all
audiences and age groups, and a fast-growing
presence on all digital platforms
More:→
www.rtl-group.com
www.mediengruppe-rtl.de
www.rtl-journalistenschule.de
5,998...
... million euros in revenue were generated by RTL Group
in 2012. Operating EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes)
amounted to 1,065 million euros in the same period.
11,931 ...
... people around the world work for RTL Group.
Most popular channel
In 2012, RTL Television was the most popular channel
among Germany’s younger viewers for the 20th consecutive
year. With an audience share of 15.9 percent among 14- to
49-year-olds, the channel was a significant 4.6 percentage
points ahead of the No. 2. In France, M6 was the only major
channel to increase its ratings last year. M6 is now No.3
among the total audience. RTL Nederland’s four free-to-
air channels achieved a primetime market share of 32.3
percent among viewers aged 20 to 49. RTL-TVI also remains
by far the most popular channel in Belgium.
A School for TV journalists
The RTL Journalistenschule in Cologne
has been training young TV talent since
2001.The 24-month training course to
become a television editor is carried out
in various stages at the School and at
internships in editorial offices within and
outside RTL Group.
Televisionat a glance

8. 14 Shows
Kelly Clarkson
15
Where
Dreams
Come True
Formats such as Idols or The Farmer
Wants a Wife are successful around the world.
Depending on the country, the names of
these shows may be American Idol, Deutsch-
land sucht den Superstar or L’amour
est dans le pré, and they offer great enter-
tainment and a lot of happy winners!
Text: Tanja Breukelchen
F
or a long time, Kelly Clarkson was the girl next door
with big dreams. Born in a small town in Texas, Kelly
watched as her mother struggled to support her and her
two older siblings – after her parents divorced when she
was six. She very quickly understood the value of money –
and the importance of a strong work ethic: “I’ve worked
hard since I was seven years old: babysitting, tutoring, waitress-
ing, baking pizza,” she said in an interview years later. Her talent
for music was discovered at school, when teachers reportedly
overheard her singing in the corridors and encouraged her to join
the choir. Kelly did, and her goal in life suddenly became clear:
she wanted to become a singer!
She was determined to make her dreams a reality, so after
graduating from high school, Kelly produced a demo CD at her
own expense and moved to Los Angeles with a friend. Her first
steps as a performer seemed auspicious. Kelly received A
Shows

9. 16 Shows
The Company
FremantleMedia is one of the
world’s largest and most suc-
cessful creators, producers and
distributors of television enter-
tainment brands, from prime
time entertainment shows, to
drama, reality formats, game
shows,TV movies, soap operas,
and kids and family enter-
tainment programming.The
company, a subsidiary of RTL
Group, has three main business
areas –production, licensing
and distribution –and is also
capitalizing on the digital world
in many ways: by extending
successful program brands on-
line, by applying its distribution
skills in a multi-platform world,
and by creating original content
initiatives for new platforms like
YouTube and others.
“I think I’ll always be entwined with Idol
because it was such a great experience
for me. I’m proud of everything I achieved
with Idol, and away from Idol also”
Kelly Clarkson, winner of the first season of American Idol
Kelly Clarkson started her “Stronger”world tour in 2012. And at the end of the year, her first best-of album was released, Greatest Hits – Chapter One
small television roles and worked with the
songwriter Gerry Goffin for a short time. But
then Goffin fell ill, and soon Kelly suffered yet
another blow of fate. “It was the worst thing
that had ever happened to me. On the day we
had moved all the stuff we had bought with our
hard-earned money into our apartment, we
went out for a quick bite to eat. When we came
back, everything was ablaze.” A neighbor had
left a cigarette burning. For Kelly, then 19, it was
seemingly the end of her career dreams – at least
for the time being. Frustrated, she went back to
Texas and worked various jobs, including as a
waitress, a promoter and an usher, for several
months.
Then came the turning point. In 2002,
Kelly’s friend Jessica Hugghins convinced her
to audition for the TV show American Idol,
which was being produced for the first time.
The format, from Fremantle Media and 19 En-
tertainment, had been a huge hit in the UK, on
the country’s leading commercial broadcaster
ITV during the winter months 2001 and 2002.
From 10,000 candidates, Kelly emerged as one
of the top 30 and received a record number of
votes in the second round. On September 4th
,
17
The Great Success
American Idol started in 2002
and is, with an average 17.4 mil-
lion viewers, currently the most
successful entertainment series
in the United States. In addition
to Kelly Clarkson, many other
participants have had national
and international breakthroughs
on this talent show, including
Carrie Underwood, Chris
Daughtry, Jennifer Hudson,
Jordin Sparks, Clay Aiken and
Adam Lambert. Over the past
ten years, more than 60 singles
from American Idol participants
have reached top spots on
the Billboard Hot 100 in the
U.S. Stars such as Paula Abdul,
Jennifer Lopez, Steven Tyler and
Mariah Carey have served on
the judges’ panel.
“I think I’ll always be entwined with Idol
because it was such a great experience
for me. I’m proud of everything I achieved
with Idol, and away from Idol also”
Kelly Clarkson, winner of the first season of American Idol
A
The six finalists of the first
season (second from right:
Kelly Clarkson) of the hit
show American Idol, which
remains at the top in of
the ratings charts
A friend convinced her
to participate in the first
season of American Idol.
Good advice, because
Kelly Clarkson (center,
with Clay Aiken, left, and
Ruben Studdard, right,
the finalists of the sec-
ond season) won the final
round. It was the start of
her international career
she won the final round, becoming the first
ever American Idol – and signed a contract with
RCA Records.
For Kelly Clarkson, winning American Idol
meant the beginning of a spectacular interna-
tional career. Her first hit single, Before Your
Love / A Moment Like This, rose from number
52 to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in
October 2002, breaking the record for the big-
gest leap to number one in a single week in the
chart’s history. It went on to become the best-
selling single of the year in the United States
and her first album, Thankful, released in April
2003, went double platinum after selling more
than 2.1 million copies in the United States. The
album has since sold over 4.5 million copies
worldwide.
Great Britain, Australia, Canada... Kelly landed
on the charts in more and more countries around
the world, rising to superstardom. She had one
hit after another from her albums Breakaway
(2004), My December (2007), All I Ever Wanted
(2009) and Stronger (2011), winning a string of
awards along the way, including two Grammys,
three MTV Video Music Awards, twelve Billboard
Music Awards, and four American Music

10. 18 Shows
with an exciting judging panel featuring Randy
Jackson, Mariah Carey, Nicky Minaj and Keith
Urban.
After all these years, the show that launched
her spectacular career is never far from Kelly’s
mind. Speaking about American Idol in an
interview years after her win, she said: “I think I’ll
always be entwined with Idol because it was such
a great experience for me. I’m proud of everything
I achieved with Idol, and away from Idol also.”
It’s clear that through hard work, determi-
nation, and incredible talent, Kelly has made
her dreams a reality. For Kelly Clarkson, the
working-class girl from Texas, participating in
the show was a rags-to-riches story. “I used to
have nothing. I was really poor,” Clarkson says
today. “The fact that I have achieved so incred-
ibly much is like a Cinderella story to me!” 2
Awards, along with countless nominations.
In the ten years since she was crowned
America’s first Idol, Kelly has sold more than 25
million albums and 36 million singles worldwide
according to Billboard, solidifying her place as
one of the best-selling solo performers of the
decade. In 2012 she released her first great-
est hits album Greatest Hits – Chapter One,
dedicating the title track Catch My Breath to the
family, friends and fans who have supported
her through her journey from Idol winner to
international superstar.
Kelly’s turning point in life, American Idol,
is still the most popular entertainment series in
the United States and has now been shown in
over 190 countries, airing throughout all major
territories around the world. During its eleventh
season, in 2012, it reached an average of 17.4
million viewers and its twelfth series launched
“The fact that I have achieved so
incredibly much is like a Cinderella
story to me!”
Kelly Clarkson, the most successful American Idol winner
Kelly Clarkson sings the U.S. national anthem at the Super Bowl in Indianapolis
Four of the winners: Alexander
Klaws, Mark Medlock,Thomas
Godoj and Luca Hänni (from
top to bottom)
A Decade of Success 
The talent show Deutschland
sucht den Superstar (“DSDS”)
started in Germany the same
year as American Idol launched
in the U.S. Dieter Bohlen has
been on the judges’ panel
since the very beginning, first
with Shona Fraser,Thomas Bug
and Thomas M. Stein, and in
the current tenth season with
Bill and Tom Kaulitz from Tokio
Hotel and Mateo from Culcha
Candela. DSDS scored phenom-
enal ratings –for example, 7
million watched the big DSDS
finale, in which Tobias Regner
was crowned the Superstar
of 2006.The winners to date,
by season, were: Alexander
Klaws, Elli Erl,Tobias Regner,
Mark Medlock,Thomas Godoj,
Daniel Schuhmacher, Mehrzad
Marashi, Pietro Lombardi and
Luca Hänni.
19
High Ratings
L’amour est dans le pré (“Love
Is in the Field”) is having a suc-
cessful run on M6, RTL Group’s
flagship channel in France.
More on this topic:
www.m6.fr/emission-l_
amour_est_dans_le_pre
L’amour est dans le pré:
In the French incarnation of
the TV franchise The Farmer
Wants a Wife, dairy farmer
Thierry Olive ends up marrying
his beloved Annie. Presenter
Karine Le Marchand (above)
couldn’t attend the wedding,
as she was busy filming new
episodes of the enormously
popular show
I
t was one of the most important weddings of
the year 2012 in France, and Karine Le March-
and – of all people – was unable to attend. Le
Marchand, host of the French version of The
FarmerWants aWife, had hoped to be a witness
to the marriage of the good-natured dairy farmer
Thierry Olive, and Annie, a dental assistant from
a Paris suburb, at a September wedding in Olive’s
hometown in Normandy, after the two had met
on the show’s seventh hit season. It must have
been the first time that the mayor of the small
village of Ver, which has just 350 inhabitants, had
to set up barriers in the street in order to keep
control over the crowd of about 8,000 curious
onlookers and a significant media presence, who
came to celebrate the couple’s union. And Karine
Le Marchand? She had a very convincing reason
for only being able to congratulate them from
afar: she was filming – preparing portraits of new
farmers for the next season, so that more of them
could find their own happiness over the next
summer.
The Farmer Wants a Wife – or, as it is called
rather more romantically in France, L’amour
est dans le pré (loosely translated as “Love Is in
the Field”) – continues to score high ratings in
the country. About six million television viewers
watched the two-part retrospective of the sixth
season, which was shown prior to the beginning
of the seventh edition. With every new season,
more French viewers tuned in. During the first
season in 2006, M6 rejoiced over its record 3.5
million viewers; by late summer 2012, the epi-
sode shown two days after Thierry and Annie’s
wedding saw the number climb past 7 million.
An average 6.4 million viewers followed the
amorous developments that took place among
the three women and eleven men from various
rural areas and their suitors. L’amour est dans le
pré repeatedly outperformed the public broad-
caster France 2. Even the largest private French
broadcaster, TF1, decided to change around
its Monday evening programming – all in vain.
Only the coverage of the London Olympics A
L’amour est dans le pré
In 2012, the French version of The Farmer Wants A Wife topped its time slot
every single week, except for the one night it aired against the Olympics. It
was the highest rated entertainment show on M6 for the year, and one of its
stars has now found happiness like many others before him on the show
Text: Andrea Freund

11. 20 Shows
was more popular than the farmers’ primetime
courting activities.
Perhaps, in these economically difficult
times, post-modern France is fascinated by a
longing for a simpler life – and certainly by the
search for happiness with that special some-
one. The magazine L’Express even wondered
whether urbanites were in a sense “reconciling”
with rural life, which is often much more dif-
ficult but is also more grounded. Three-quarters
of France’s population now lives in cities, while
half of the country’s geographical area is still
devoted to the production of grain and milk
products, wine and champagne. The show
touches people’s hearts, says Nicolas de Taver-
nost, CEO and Chairman of the Management
Board of Groupe M6, plus it presents agriculture
“in a positive light.” Beautiful images from all
over the country are depicted in the show, from
Brittany in western France and Lorraine in the
East of France, to Picardy in the north to the
Pyrénées-Atlantique region near the southern-
most stretch of the French Atlantic coast. So far,
most of the candidates have come from there
and from the Gironde region (which includes
the city of Bordeaux) just a little further to the
north. The previous season also featured an
olive-oil producer from the island of Corsica. All
in all, 71 poultry, cattle, goat and horse breeders,
grape-growers, and dairy, grain and vegetable
famers aged 24 to 60 have searched for love on
L’amour est dans le pré to date. Each of them
received letters from other singles before meet-
ing with eight of the potential candidates at a
speed-dating session in Paris and then inviting
two of them to visit their rural home. So far 13
weddings, 37 relationships and 26 children have
resulted from this highly popular television
program. While not all the relationships formed
onscreen have lasted, some participants have
found true love through the show, which gives
them the opportunity to get to know people
they might never have otherwise met. This is
certainly the case for Thierry, who comes from
the backwaters of northern France and laugh-
ingly calls himself a “country bumpkin.” He
was filmed as he happily took the subway for
the very first time in Paris, and his remarks have
a cult following. He was the viewers’ favorite
even prior to his wedding to Annie. Similar
love stories abound worldwide and The Farmer
Wants A Wife has gripped the imagination of
people all around the globe. In the Netherlands,
Boer Zoekt Vrouw (as the show is known locally)
is watched by an incredible 35 percent of the
population and has been the country’s high-
est rated entertainment program since 1995.
Including France, 29 countries have their own
local versions of the format and over 100 series
have aired internationally to date. In 2012 alone,
farmers in Canada, Hungary and Latvia began
their own search for love as new local versions
of the show launched in their countries.
And Thierry and Annie? After a romantic hon-
eymoon in Senegal, they returned to France and
spent their first Christmas together as a married
couple. Annie is now living on Thierry’s farm, and
they hope to start a family very soon. L’Amour
est dans le pre enters its eighth season in France,
with new farmers hoping to find romance, love
and a partner to share their lives. As Thierry says,
of his marriage to Annie: “It is the best gift I’ve
ever received”. 2
Love in the German
Countryside:
The Hit Show Bauer
sucht Frau 
From an industrious Alpine
pasture farmer to a taciturn
Westphalian grower to an
enterprising agriculturalist from
the flatlands of Frisia –ever
since the first season of Bauer
sucht Frau ran in October of
2005, host Inka Bause has been
bringing in all types in order
to help farmers of both sexes
find true love on TV. Fluttering
hearts and happy endings –
with up to 8 million viewers
watching on TV.
Happy loving couples:
They send the show’s ratings sky-high.
Like married couple Thierry and Annie
(left), farmer Sylvain and Valerie (center)
are also love-struck. Yoann and Emanu-
elle (right) have even had a baby since
they found each other.The rural dating
show is so popular in France that about
six million viewers watched the two-part
retrospective of the sixth season alone
21
FremantleMedia
As an innovative market pioneer, FremantleMedia, a subsidiary
of RTL Group, develops, produces and markets outstand-
ing entertainment brands and is among the most successful
companies in the sector. It has subsidiaries in 24 countries and
rights worldwide, creating more than 9,100 hours of program-
ming each year, rolling out more than 60 formats and almost
400 individual titles, such as Idols, Got Talent, The X Factor,
Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten and many more.
Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten (“Good Times, Bad Times”) has been
running on RTL since 1992 and is, with almost four million viewers
a day, Germany’s first and most successful daily soap opera.The
5,000th episode was broadcast in 2012
International Shows:
Looking for Winners
In many countries, these shows and series
offer the best entertainment around. They represent
genres that are successful around the world
but are also adapted to each country. What they
have in common are their high viewer ratings
and happy winners
Serial success
With nearly four million viewers a day, Gute Zeiten, schlechte
Zeiten (Good Times, Bad Times), produced by FremantleMedia’s
subsidiary Grundy UFA, is Germany’s first and most popular daily
soap. Similarly successful FremantleMedia-produced series include
Forbidden Love, broadcast in Australia, Germany, Sweden and
Greece and elsewhere, and Neighbours –a viewer favorite in
Australia since 1986 and now an audience magnet in England,
New Zealand and many other countries.
RTL Group’s subsidiary
FremantleMedia produces
numerous shows, drama
series, reality formats and
soap operas–all over the
world!
Travelling formats
The original formats for Idols and The Farmer Wants a Wife come
from Great Britain. The Farmer Wants a Wife, for instance, pre-
miered in England in 2001, and has aired in 29 countries to date
with titles like Boer zoekt vrouw (the Netherlands), L’amour est
dans le pré (France) or Ljubav na selu (Croatia).The same is true
of DSDS.That show’s forerunner, the British talent show Pop Idol,
a 2001 brainchild of Simon Fuller, was licensed worldwide and thus
aired local versions in 46 territories so far. American Idol alone has
been seen in over 190 countries.
More:→
www.fremantlemedia.com
Showsat a glance

12. Books22 23
Virtuosos
of the Word
How a Random House bestseller is born:
The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg.
The path from initial idea to post-publication
Text: Katja Guttmann. Photos: Jürgen Frank
O
ut on Broadway police sirens wail, traffic roars, an
endless stream of people rush about. But once you
walk through the revolving glass doors, into the
tranquil atmosphere of Random House’s world head-
quarters, all of that falls away. In the high-ceilinged
lobby, it is impossible not to notice what
matters here: books. Hundreds of paperbacks and hardcovers –
winners of Nobel and Pulitzer prizes, brand-new publications
and first-edition classics – fill the shelves, all the way up to the
ceiling. And every day, the many occupants of this building work
hard to ensure that future Random House titles will one day take
up places of honor on these same shelves.
The eleventh-floor office of Andy Ward, an Executive Editor
in the Random House Publishing Group division, is small, A
Books

13. Books24
but a floor-to-ceiling window keeps it from
feeling cramped. On three shiny gray shelves
along one wall sit stacks of meticulously sorted
manuscripts – the books on which he is cur-
rently working. Each one is hand-labeled with
the author’s name. “I have a huge amount of
respect for the writing process, which is incred-
ibly hard,” says Ward with a serious glance over
his frameless glasses. He speaks thoughtfully,
with concentration, occasionally displaying
an impish smile. But behind his smile is an
unwavering belief in his authors. He is known
for his keen judgment and inexhaustible energy
when working on their manuscripts, and for
the obsessive attention to detail with which
he drives projects forward. Inside the finished
books he has edited, which are lined up next
to his desktop computer, are glowing notes of
gratitude from their authors: Andy Ward is a
virtuoso of words.
Charles Duhigg didn’t yet know any of this
about Ward when they spoke for the first time,
in the fall of 2009. Duhigg, an award-winning
investigative business journalist for the New
York Times, wanted to write his first book. The
idea he was proposing, The Power of Habit, was
to be an exploration of all the behaviors, good
and bad, that we perform, every day, without
thinking: Why do some people succeed with
exercise routines, and thus manage to keep the
weight off, while others don’t? Why are some
companies so good at institutionalizing certain
behaviors, while others never repeat the same
process twice? Essentially, what are habits, and
how do they work? Duhigg wrote an eighty-page
proposal, and, together with his agent, went
looking for a publisher.
Ward was spending the day with his two
daughters, when the respected literary agent
Scott Moyers reached him. Moyers asked wheth-
Author Charles Duhigg and his editor Andy Ward became friends while working on The Power of Habit
Random House Inc.,
New York 
The publishing group traces
its roots to the C. Bertelsmann
publishing house, founded in
1835 in Gütersloh, Germany.
Currently, Random House Inc.
includes 200 independent pub-
lishing houses in 15 countries.
In the U.S., Bertelsmann fully
acquired paperback publisher
Bantam Books in 1980, followed
by its purchase of the Double-
day publishing house in 1986,
after which the U.S publishing
company was known as Bantam
Doubleday Dell. In 1998 Bertels-
mann acquired the prestigious
publisher Random House,
and combined it with Bantam
Doubleday Dell. And thus the
new international publishing
group Random House began.
25
“Back then I had no idea how important it
was to choose the right editor”
Charles Duhigg, Author
A
er Ward would like to take a look at Duhigg’s
proposal. Although Ward was on vacation at his
home just north of New York City, on the Hud-
son River, he asked to see it immediately.
Standing in his kitchen, as children romped
around him, Ward began reading the proposal,
and knew right away that it was good. Really
good.
Duhigg, he thought, had a talent for narra-
tive storytelling and an ability to make complex
ideas relatable. Above and beyond this, many
potential readers would undoubtedly love to
know how to get rid of bad habits in their work
and personal lives. Ward jumped in. “Within a
day I had the okay and I got on the phone with
Scott and pre-empted it, that day, for Random
House. It all happened so quickly,” says Ward.
If several publishing houses are interested in a
future manuscript, it is usually put forward for
auction and sold to the highest bidder; “pre-
empting” a proposal avoids all that, taking it off
the market at a mutually agreed-upon price. By
doing so, Random House was able to avoid a
bidding war.
“At the time, I really had no idea how impor-
tant it was to choose the right editor. Andy just
sounded like a nice guy,” says Duhigg about
his first phone call with Ward, which lasted
just fifteen minutes. When making his decision
he relied on Moyers, his agent, who described
Random House to him as a great and respected
home for authors: At Random House, he said,
there are decision-makers with the financial
resources to publish books properly and to find
them the right audience; they are professionals
with real skills and experience – and, not to be
overlooked, great enthusiasm. “I had no clue
what that meant,” says Duhigg. “Today I know.”
Charles Duhigg has bright blue eyes and a
thick black beard. He likes to laugh, and laughs
often, especially at his editor‘s dry sense of hu-
mor. When the two of them sit at a conference
room table and chat about Salman Rushdie’s
new memoir, Jennifer Egan’s Twitter novella, or
their families’ Christmas vacation plans, it’s as
if nothing else exists around them. It’s clear at
first glance that author and editor not only like
one another, but have become close friends
Charles Duhigg, Author,
Brooklyn, New York 
Charles Duhigg is originally
from New Mexico, studied at
Harvard and Yale, and has
worked as an investigative
journalist for the New York
Times since 2006. In 2009 he
was a finalist for the Pulitzer
Prize.The bestseller The Power
of Habit is his first book. He is
married, has two children and
lives in Brooklyn (New York).
The bestselling author and journalist
Charles Duhigg in his office at the New
York Times. He took a leave from his work
to write The Power of Habit

14. Books26
as well. “Charlie has a huge brain,” says Ward.
“He is seemingly capable of everything.” “Andy
is an incredible editor, but he’s also one of the
most decent human beings I’ve ever met,” says
Duhigg. (“This book is as much his as mine,”
Duhigg wrote in the book’s acknowledgements.)
It took two and half years, from that first
phone call to the book’s publication in February
2012, for The Power of Habit to become a best-
seller. (In the world of book publishing, this is
considered fairly quick, for this type of editing-
and-reporting-intensive project.) To speed
things along, Duhigg took a year of leave from
the Times, rented desk space near his Brooklyn
apartment, and spent every day researching,
outlining, and writing. The hardest part, he
says, was finding his rhythm in the beginning.
Holding the reader’s attention for 300 pages, he
quickly learned, is very different from writing a
relatively short newspaper or magazine article.
“I think we worked on the first chapter for three
months,” says Duhigg. “I had flown all over the
country and conducted dozens of interviews,
and Andy had edited it four or five times over.
And in the end, we killed it completely.” Duhigg
did, at the time, recognize the reasons the
chapter had to be abandoned – the text was too
personal, the subject not quite the right way to
open the book. He is grateful to Ward for letting
him recognize this and decide for himself to
remove it, for that’s how he learned to build
effective chapters that work. “Andy doesn’t lead
through edict,” says Duhigg, describing the
collaboration. “That’s not his style. He starts a
conversation – and from this conversation come
new ideas and assumptions.”
“Editing is not a straightforward process. It’s
not just one round of notes and we’re done,”
says Ward, who prefers to work the traditional
way, with pencil and paper. Duhigg would
usually get the pages back covered with hand-
written comments, edits, and suggestions.
“Andy forces you to connect all your ideas. He
forces you to use language that is as clear and as
crisp as possible, and he forces you to find the
Writing is not always a solitary
activity–on the contrary, whenever
Duhigg wrote a chapter at a sidewalk
cafe (far left), it was never long until
his next conversation with his edi-
tor, Ward, during which they would
reformulate passages or discuss the
design for the book cover (above)
“Andy forces you to
connect all your ideas”Charles Duhigg, Author
27
best anecdotes and explanations,” says Duhigg.
Even when Duhigg himself, on the verge of
exhaustion, would have been content with 85
percent perfection, that was not good enough
for his editor. “Being friends helps a great deal,”
says Ward. Neither of them knows anymore how
many pages, in the end, were revised multiple
times and then thrown away. “It was a lot,” says
Ward. Duhigg remembers two big black garbage
bags sitting in his home office, filled with dis-
carded pages from various drafts.
Today, when Duhigg leafs through the pile
of rejected drafts for the cover image of The
Power of Habit, he has to laugh. One design,
with circles and squares, looked to him like an
intelligence test for preschoolers. Another, with
a circle of arrows, like a company report from
the 1980s. He is glad that Random House came
up with an extremely clever visual, a striking
red-and-yellow design in which a human figure
is breaking out from inside a stylized hamster
wheel and making playful use of the wheel. For
him, it is simply the perfect metaphor for the
book. Duhigg got the idea for this design during
a trip to California, and the graphic artist Anton
Ioukhnovets implemented it to perfection. “I
have to think about a present for him,” says
Duhigg.
Andy Ward, Executive
Editor at Random
House, New York 
Andy Ward began his career as
an editor at Esquire and GQ
magazines, rising to Executive
Editor of the latter. He has been
an editor at Random House
since September 2009. He is
married, has two children and
lives in Dobbs Ferry (New York).
Andy Ward in his Random House building office in New York, where he spends many hours a day
editing manuscripts, several of which have become bestsellers
Manuscripts, meticulously
sorted by author’s name, sit
on Andy Ward’s shelf waiting
to be edited
A

15. Books28
While Duhigg and Ward were still polish-
ing the final version of The Power of Habit, the
Random House marketing and publicity jug-
gernaut was gathering steam. Months before the
book was even finished, Sally Marvin and Maria
Braeckel were busy stoking the curiosity of tra-
ditional media, reaching out to television, radio,
newspapers, and magazines. “We were already
very excited about the manuscript, we just had
to find the right pitch for all the different reader-
ships: business audience, parents, consumers
focused on lifestyle choices and nutrition,”
says Braeckel. Erika Greber and her market-
ing colleagues produced interactive content
like animated videos and banner ads that they
posted on YouTube and various social media
sites. Duhigg launched his own website and a
blog, and took a more active role in his Face-
book page and Twitter profile. And the result
of all this: “We were able to not only document
the word of mouth that was happening online,
but also gather valuable insights about who our
readers are. It’s a good example of how quickly
book marketing continues to evolve, and how
we as a company are using these advantages
more and more intensively,” says Greber.
There were moments of nervousness, howev-
er. “Shortly before our publication date on Feb-
ruary 28, 2012, I became petrified that I would
let down Andy, and I would let down Random
House, which had invested so much in me and
this book,” says Duhigg. But he didn’t have to
hold his breath for long. In its influential Sunday
Magazine, the New York Times featured an
advance excerpt from the book as its cover story:
it was culled from the book’s most provocative
section, in which Duhigg describes how the Tar-
get national retail chain is studying consumer
habits in order to gain business advantages from
its female customers when they are pregnant.
Right after the excerpt was published, Random
House received dozens of media inquiries, and
the book took off. Duhigg spent much of the
next two months giving interviews, enabling
his book to debut at #4 on the bestseller list. In
the U.S. alone, The Power of Habit so far has
sold 300,000 copies in hardcover and e-book
editions, and it remained on the New York Times
national lists for thirty-one weeks. The success
story continues internationally, as the rights
have now been sold in 30 countries.
One of his book’s happiest side effects is that
he himself profited so personally from his re-
search. Much to his wife’s delight, he lost several
pounds because he consciously shed his bad
habit of eating a chocolate cookie in the cafeteria
every afternoon. For his break, he instead now
chooses to chat a little with his colleagues before
going back to work. Ward also admits to being
more conscious of forming better habits since ed-
iting the book. In the evening, for example, he lays
out his running clothes so they are the first thing
he sees the next morning. “The tip from the book
really works!” Since then, he has been managing
to go for a run three times a week before catching
the train to Grand Central Station, he says.
And because Duhigg would also like to make
a good habit of his successful collaboration with
his editor, he has already sold his next book idea
to Random House; its working title is The Sci-
ence of Productivity. As of yet, not a single word
has been committed to paper. But Andy Ward
and Charles Duhigg have already been talking
up a storm about the project in their favorite
Broadway coffee shop. 2
A perfect team, always in
touch: Editor Andy Ward
and author Charles Duhigg
made The Power of Habit
into a bestseller, with
300,000 copies sold in the
U.S. alone
“Since editing
this book, I think
more about my
own habits”
Andy Ward, Editor at Random House
29
Among its authors are John Grisham, Stephen King, E L James, and
James Patterson, as well as Stefan Heym, Ernst Jandl, Richard David
Precht, and Walter Kempowski; they also include Barack Obama, Bill
Clinton, Dan Brown, Dean Koontz and Nigella Lawson, as well as
Charlotte Link, Ian McEwan, Julia Navarro, Orhan Pamuk, Christopher
Paolini, and Elizabeth George. With 10,000 new books published
annually in 15 countries, in both print and electronic form as well
as audiobooks, and with 400 million books sold per year, Random
House is the world’s largest trade publishing group.
From Blanvalet to Manesse, from Goldmann to Random House,
from Heyne to DVA –Random House’s German publishing group
encompasses 45 imprints. Every month, they publish some 200 new
books, covering a broad spectrum with their titles: everything from
popular and intellectual entertainment to contemporary and clas-
sic literary works, children’s and young adult books, self-help and
religious books, and a wide range of non-fiction.
Verlagsgruppe Random House, headquartered in Munich, is a part
of Random House, the world’s leading trade publishing group.
Famous authors:Toni
Morrison, José Sara-
mago, Orhan Pamuk and
Mario Vargas Llosa (from
top to bottom) have all
been awarded the Nobel
Prize for Literature
The world’s largest trade
book publisher
Celebrated authors, admired publishers, all genres,
bestsellers, major literary prizes and a huge foot-
print in the digital as well physical books market.
The Random House publishing group, with its world
headquarters in New York, is a book publisher of
many superlatives
More:→
www.randomhouse.com
www.randomhouse.biz
www.randomhouse.de
252 titles ...
... from the Random House publishing group were on the
New York Times bestseller lists in 2012 alone.
200 independent publishing houses ...
... comprise Random House in 15 countries, including
distinguished imprints like Doubleday and Alfred A. Knopf
(USA), Ebury and Transworld (Great Britain), Plaza & Janés
(Spain), Sudamericana (Argentina) and Goldmann
(Germany).
E-books
More than 47,000 e-books in English, German and
Spanish are now available as Random House e-books.
More than 50 ...
... authors published by Random House have won the
Nobel Prize, including Nobel Prize for Literature winners
Doris Lessing, Mario Vargas Llosa, Orhan Pamuk and José
Saramago.
Booksat a glance

16. 30 International
China
Brazil
India
Gütersloh
31
The World’s
Markets in
Their Sights
Bertelsmann’s Corporate Centers in Asia
and South America have a direct view of the
world’s largest emerging markets.The aim
is to close gaps, recognize new trends and
take advantage of opportunities
Interview: Steffi Kammerer. Photos: Arne Weychardt
A
nnabelle Yu Long, Thomas Mackenbrock and Pankaj
Makkar are young, have impressive careers behind
them, and big adventures ahead of them. As early as
2007, Long went to Beijing for Bertelsmann in order
to run the China Corporate Center; in 2012, Thomas
Mackenbrock and Pankaj Makkar also set out into the world – as
heads of the Corporate Centers in Brazil and India.
EXPERIENCE: The three of you represent Bertelsmann in the world’s
growth markets. How did you, as young managers, get into these excit-
ing positions? Ms. Long and Mr. Makkar, you graduated from the Ber-
telsmann Entrepreneurs Program; maybe we can start there?
PANKAJ MAKKAR: When I was working on my master’s at Harvard,
I looked at companies that were involved in the growth markets. I
noticed that many Western employers did not pay much at- A
International

17. 32 International
tention to the specific local context; they simply
wanted to transfer what they knew from their
own countries. But at Bertelsmann I noticed
right away that our entrepreneurial approaches
were very similar. Plus, the Bertelsmann En-
trepreneurs Program works in both directions.
On the one hand, you get insights into Bertels-
mann’s experience and expertise in all the dif-
ferent regions of the world. On the other hand,
the company is also very open to seeing what
ideas the individual has, what local knowledge
each person brings with him or her.
ANNABELLE YU LONG: I agree with that, but I did
not have as clear an idea as Pankaj when I start-
ed the program. I had worked for a state-run TV
station in China for many years, and when I was
studying at Stanford I thought I would become
a banker or consultant with my MBA, as most
of my fellow students did. And then I came
across Bertelsmann. During our first conversa-
tions, I was already impressed by how much
freedom the employees are granted in their
work. This is my eighth year with the company,
and the opportunities, the responsibility you
are given early on, the trust that is placed in you
as a young person, are truly wonderful. When I
started in New York in 2005, we didn’t yet have a
clear strategy for the new growth markets. Even
“I am impressed by how
much freedom the employees
are granted in their work”
Annabelle Yu Long, China Corporate Center
On their way to the top
Corporate Center Chief Executives (from left) Thomas Mackenbrock (Brazil), Pankaj Makkar (India) and Annabelle Yu Long (China)
Corporate Centers 
In its bid to enter growth
markets around the world, Ber-
telsmann is counting on people
who recognize trends, supervise
projects and pursue entrepre-
neurial goals. So in addition to
its headquarters in Gütersloh
and its branches in Berlin and
Brussels, the company has
Corporate Centers in New York,
Beijing, New Delhi and São Paulo
(the latter two newly opened).
33
though we already employed over 1,000 people
in China, the emphasis was on the book market,
and the activities were not as focused as they
are today. I was with BDMI (the “Bertelsmann
Digital Media Investments” investment fund) in
New York and so was intensively involved with
digital media. A project that we did together
with McKinsey took me back to China, at first
just for short periods of time. Then, in 2007
I took over the Corporate Center in Beijing,
which we had opened the year before.
Mr. Mackenbrock, what took you from Gütersloh
to São Paulo?
THOMAS MACKENBROCK: I came to Bertelsmann
in 2006 and worked on corporate development
in Gütersloh. Prior to that I worked with McKin-
sey, in the telecommunications, media and high
tech area. In early 2011, I was in Brazil for a
project, and I fell in love with the country right
away. That fit well, because we had already
set up Corporate Centers in China and India,
yet there was still one gap: Latin America. At
first glance, we thought that there were several
barriers to entry: the dominance of local media
groups and the limitations for foreign owners
did not seem very promising. But then when we
saw how successfully Annabelle was working in
China, how she went in new directions by part-
nering with other investors and addressing the
digital media space, we began to rethink our ap-
proach to Latin America as well. And it became
clear that with a flexible investment approach
and a focus on new growth areas like education
and digital media, a wide range of attractive op-
portunities awaited us.
ANNABELLE YU LONG: When I arrived in Beijing at
the time, the “big potential” was no more than a
working hypothesis for us. With the knowledge
I had acquired at BDMI in New York, I was of
course very focused on digital media and was
looking for opportunities in this area. And so
I started talking to more and more colleagues,
and the idea of starting a fund grew. That’s how
BAI, Bertelsmann Asia Investments, was born
in 2008.
Why has digital media changed the situation so
much? Can you explain that more concretely?
THOMAS MACKENBROCK: Each geography has its
own set of regulations. But generally speaking,
digital media is often less restricted for foreign
ownership than traditional media, especially
in markets like China or Brazil. We can invest
relatively freely in Internet assets. And in fact,
sometimes we can’t even invest as much as we
want to…
ANNABELLE YU LONG: … because successful
companies grow so quickly that their owners or
founders just aren’t interested in selling.
THOMAS MACKENBROCK: So you have to be more
creative with regard to minority investments
or possible partnerships. And when you look
at what Annabelle and Pankaj have achieved, it
becomes clear that you need a number of dif-
ferent instruments. We had to find new ways for
Bertelsmann to be involved in these markets.
PANKAJ MAKKAR: In India the situation is a little
different. It is certainly possible for foreign com-
panies to own businesses there; Sony and News-
corp have shown us that. But the fact is that
there are a lot of companies active in traditional
media. We are getting into the market with
manageable building-blocks and can continue
to expand from here on out.
THOMAS MACKENBROCK: That helps limit the risk.
Can you give some examples?
THOMAS MACKENBROCK: In all three countries, we
have a set of different approaches. One possibil-
ity is to invest in a local fund to acquire exper-
tise, a network and co-investment possibilities.
There is limited risk, and it’s a great way to get
established, to build a foundation. Then we also
look for direct investments. This can result in
very interesting portfolios. Let’s just look at what
Annabelle has built up over the last years. The
spectrum of companies in her portfolio ranges
from small startups to Chinese firms that are
listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
PANKAJ MAKKAR: Above all, we need to be able
to assess risks and try to minimize them as A
“Most Chinese
people have heard
of Bertelsmann”
Annabelle Yu Long has run
Bertelsmann’s Corporate Center
in Beijing since September
of 2009
Corporate Center
Beijing, China 
With 1.34 billion peo-
ple, China is the most
populous country on
Earth. Already in 1992, Bertels-
mann set up its first subsidiaries
there. By now, all the Group’s units
are active there: FremantleMedia
(RTL Group) brought TV shows like
China’s Got Talent, X Factor, Hole
in the Wall or Take Me Out to the
Chinese market. Random House
sells international bestsellers
there and sells translation rights to
Chinese publishers. Gruner + Jahr,
with its partner Boda, publishes
leading parenting, women’s, men’s
and lifestyle magazines. And
Arvato, the largest Bertelsmann
unit in China, has a logistics net-
work that spans the country, and
partners with major international
and Chinese corporations.The BAI
investment fund was founded in
2008 and has 20 holdings.

18. 34 International
much as possible. Growth markets are always
risky, especially for protagonists who are new
to the market. Joint ventures with local partners
are another tool. The partner brings the local
expertise, is familiar with consumer behavior in
that country, and knows, for example, how TV
shows should be designed. We, Bertelsmann,
then deliver the content. That is exactly what we
did in India with our RTL joint venture, the first
of its kind. Our adventure channel, Thrill, has
been on the air since November 2012.
What role does the Internet play in your respec-
tive countries? What specific opportunities does
it offer?
THOMAS MACKENBROCK: Brazil is behind China
in terms of development, but right now the
Internet in Brazil is taking off at an incredible
pace. Nowadays, nearly half the population
has access to the Web, and the number is ris-
ing. Many companies are still in their infancy.
One interesting observation: Brazilians are
crazy about social media. In fact, Brazil has
just surpassed India in terms of Facebook user
numbers and now is second only to the United
States. It’s a very exciting time here. We are
right where China was five years ago, and the
next wave is building momentum.
PANKAJ MAKKAR: In India the situation is similar
to that in Brazil. The Internet is booming. But
it’s happening via mobile devices, not via com-
puters. Cell phones are ten times as common
as computers. From the consumer perspective,
this means new routes to information and en-
tertainment. Even people living in villages can
get connected now. It is a revolution that af-
fects the entire country. It’s a great time for us
to be involved. If we succeed in setting things
up right, we can really leave deep tracks here.
What does the fact that Bertelsmann is a
European or German company mean in your
countries?
PANKAJ MAKKAR: I think that in India Bertels-
mann is perceived not just as a big international
company, but also, in particular, as a family
business. That is very significant for our part-
ners in India, because their values and way of
thinking are similar.
THOMAS MACKENBROCK: In Brazil most of our
partner companies are owned by families. They
speak the same language as Bertelsmann: long-
term orientation and strong corporate culture.
It should also be noted that these families often
have a European background. In some cases,
discussions involve partners whose grandfather or
great-grandfather immigrated from Europe. This
emotional connection usually makes things easier.
ANNABELLE YU LONG: In China things are some-
what different. In my country, people generally
have a high opinion of European countries.
That is especially true for Germany; quality and
discipline are things we value highly. Most Chi-
nese people have heard the name Bertelsmann;
we are one of the first Western companies that
entered the market here in the early nineties.
How often do you three share information? How
closely do you work together?
ANNABELLE YU LONG: We communicate con-
stantly. On the phone, via video conference, via
e-mail, or we meet in person.
THOMAS MACKENBROCK: Thanks to various
projects in which we have been involved, we
three really know one another well. I worked
with Pankaj three years ago in New York; I was
in China with Annabelle in 2007. It’s really a
wonderful situation. Even though we are now all
in different regions of the world, we have a solid
personal connection.
PANKAJ MAKKAR: Specifically, that means we all
know we can pick up the phone anytime to say,
“This is what’s happening here. Do you see a
similar development there? Do you know some-
one I could get in touch with?” And we visit each
other’s countries, which is also very helpful.
The Corporate Center in China opened in 2006,
followed by the Centers in India, then Brazil, in
2012. How have you been able to benefit from one
another?
“If we succeed in
setting things up
right,we can really
leave deep tracks
there”
Pankaj Makkar has run
Bertelsmann’s Corporate Center
in New Delhi since February
of 2012
Corporate Center
New Delhi, India 
India, with over 1.2
billion inhabitants, is
the world’s second-
most populous country and is
considered the world’s largest
democracy. At the opening of the
new Corporate Center in February
2012,Thomas Rabe, Bertelsmann
Chairman and CEO, stated, “India
is an important market for our
international growth.The country’s
demographic, economic and
technological development offers
a future-oriented company like
Bertelsmann many opportunities.”
All of Bertelsmann’s corporate
units were already present in
India prior to the opening:The
RTL Group started two TV stations
there with a national partner;
FremantleMedia is involved with
hit shows like Indian Idol, X Factor,
and Got Talent; Random House
India has been publishing books
there since 2005. In 2011 Gruner
+ Jahr took over a majority share
in the Indian magazine publisher
Maxposure. And Arvato India has
been working in the Customer &
Marketing Services unit as well as
in e-commerce since 2003. All the
corporate units will expand their
business in India significantly in
the coming years.
35
PANKAJ MAKKAR: It starts with asking about
employees: how many do you need? And then
it moves to logistical challenges. And then to
what types of projects make sense. What can
you do to build up a brand as fast as possible?
How much do we want to promise? That’s a
tricky question – if you pledge too much, things
can get difficult, but if the targets are too low,
the brand won’t develop well. China really was
the test vehicle for all these questions, and An-
nabelle did an amazing job. When I started my
Center, I got a lot of help from Annabelle. I was
really lucky that she was able to come to India
for this purpose.
THOMAS MACKENBROCK: And then, it’s not just a
learning process for us. It’s a whole new journey
“We are now present
with our own offices in all
the growth regions”
Thomas Mackenbrock, Brazil Corporate Center
“Bertelsmann
has set out on a
global journey”
Thomas Mackenbrock has run
Bertelsmann’s Corporate Center in
São Paulo since January of 2012
Corporate Center
São Paulo, Brazil 
Brazil, with over 192
million inhabitants
and an area of 8.5
million square kilometer, is the
world’s fifth-largest nation and
South America’s most populous
country. Bertelsmann had already
been represented in South Ame-
rica for quite some time prior to
opening its own Corporate Center
there in June of 2012. Among
the shows marketed there by
FremantleMedia were hits like Idol
and The Apprentice. The Random
House book publishing subsidiary
is represented in Argentina, Chile,
Mexico, Colombia and Uruguay.
Three automotive magazine
branches in Argentina, Mexico and
Brazil as well as G y J Televisia in
Mexico belong to Gruner + Jahr.
In South America, Arvato works in
the areas of distribution services,
service centers and print. Overall,
Bertelsmann has about 3,000 em-
ployees in South America.The goal
is to build on that in the future,
as Thomas Rabe explained at the
official opening of the Center: “It is
important to be represented with a
central anchor.The new Corporate
Center will help us further develop
our existing activities in this region
and to build up new businesses –
for example in the areas of educa-
tion and digital media.”
for Gütersloh as well. After all, a lot more is
at stake than just establishing a Corporate
Center in a particular location. Bertelsmann
has set out on a global journey. Links of
a chain are being joined together. We are
now present with our own offices in all the
growth regions.
ANNABELLE YU LONG: And this development
is based on a trim, flexible strategy. It’s very
efficient. We can move quickly. I think we
are really well positioned. I don’t see any
other media company that is as well posi-
tioned for a globally based digital regional
strategy. 2

19. 36 Magazines 37
I read
because ...
Gruner + Jahr’s world of magazines is as
diverse –and its topics and formats as
varied –as the countries the magazines
appear in. Why readers all over the world look
forward to every issue of “their” magazine
Text: Tanja Breukelchen. Photos: Bernd Jonkmanns
F
rance, India, China, the Netherlands, Spain... Gruner +
Jahr is represented in over 30 countries with more than
500 media products. High-quality magazines for a wide
readership and attractive target groups. Quality journal-
ism, opulent visuals, topicality – Gruner + Jahr has a
market-leading title in nearly every magazine segment.
Add to that content for tablets, apps and high-reach websites.
Worldwide.
Topics range from news magazines to fashion and science,
from travel to family life. Who reads what? And above all: how,
where and why? We asked readers from all over the world about
their favorite Gruner + Jahr magazines. 2
A
Magazines

20. 38 Magazines
Netherlands:
QUEST 
QUEST offers a fun way to learn more about nature,
technology, health, psychology and history.The
magazine uses contemporary language and design
and presents exciting photos, elaborate illustrations
and informative charts. Its concept is based on the
international family of brands built around the popular
science magazine FOCUS, which is the best-selling
monthly title in Italy with an average circulation of
425,000 copies.
Publication:
monthly
Circulation: 181,698
“Sure, it’s impossible to be in the
know about everything and have
something to say on it–but why
not at least try? Since I started
reading QUEST, I never cease to be
amazed at how much knowledge is
packed into every issue”
Noah Baars (26), political science student from Amsterdam
Gruner + Jahr 
In 1965, the publishers John
Jahr and Dr. Gerd Bucerius
teamed up with the printer
Richard Gruner to create the
Gruner + Jahr printing and pub-
lishing house. In the late 1960s,
Gruner sold his shares; Jahr and
Bucerius each held 37.5 percent.
The publisher Reinhard Mohn
bought a 25-percent stake.
By 1975, Mohn’s media group,
Bertelsmann, had acquired 74.9
percent of the shares. Only
one of the founders remained
a shareholder –the Jahr
publishing family. Gruner + Jahr
strengthened its position by
acquiring holdings and compa-
nies in Germany and, from 1978
onwards, abroad.
39
Germany:
STERN 
People are inundated with infor-
mation these days.To find your
way around, the last thing you
need is more facts and figures.
You want a magazine that filters,
categorizes, and evaluates. STERN
provides orientation because it
offers context as well as content.
Generous visuals, a modern, clear
layout, topical social issues, the
most important current events,
and a look at the human side of
the news. STERN takes a stand,
states a point of view and gets
involved.
Publication:
weekly
Circulation: 788,621
Germany:
BRIGITTE 
From fashion and cosmetics to
cultural and social topics, and
even psychology dossiers:The
women who read BRIGITTE have
high standards.They not only
expect excellent entertainment
and reliable information, but also
a high use value. Sophistication
and excellent content are also
the guiding values for BRIGITTE
WOMAN, the popular title for
women aged 40 and over.
Publication:
bi-weekly
Circulation: 577,049
A
“The first thing I look
at in the new STERN
is the last page, is
‘What’s XY up to these
days...’.Then I look at
the TV schedule. I like to read the insurance tips. Otherwise,
I always skim through it once, then begin to read–unless
Gaby nicks it off me and I don’t get it back until just before
the new issue is out”
Darius Büttner (46), account manager from Hamburg
“I’ve been reading BRIGITTE for a long, long time. I’ve
bought quite a few other women’s magazines as well,
but the good thing about Brigitte is that it doesn’t
keep changing. It stays true to its style. You get good,
practical fashion tips, great recipes, good stories and
interesting travel articles”
Gabriele Büttner (49), freelance online shop owner from Hamburg

21. 40 Magazines
“Reading GEO means always learn-
ing new things, discovering and
understanding the world around us.
Whether it is major travel features
or scientific news, everything is
made interesting and is fun to read.
If you have children, I recommend
GEOlino and GEOlino mini, even for
very small explorers of the world”
Andor Busse (47), architect from Hamburg, with Johnny (8)
France:
GALA 
In just ten years, GALA has be-
come the top people magazine in
the women’s segment in France; a
magazine that invites readers to
escape from everyday life and to
dream a little. Every week, GALA
offers insights into the world of
the rich and famous, and lots
of reports on fashion, beauty
and everything for a beautiful
home.There are also exclusive
interviews with celebrities from
film, music, politics, business,TV,
sports, society and literature.
Publication:
weekly
Circulation: 283,968
Germany:
GEO 
With serious journalism, brilliant
visuals, authenticity, vision and
connective thinking, GEO is a basic
medium of the information society.
It stands for conveying knowledge
and values. With its journalistic
principles –“a liking for the un-
usual”; “a curiosity for what’s worth
knowing”; “an awareness of the
endangered”; and “an open mind
about the future” –GEO is the most
widely read monthly magazine sold
on newsstands, and one of the most
influential media in Germany.The
GEO family offers specialist coverage
of specific themes with GEOlino,
GEO Epoche, GEO kompakt, GEO
Saison, GEO Special, GEO Wissen
and GEO thema.
Publication:
monthly
Circulation: 285,417
41
”My job requires me to always stay well informed about political and
economic issues, and I regularly read several newspapers and politi-
cal magazines, so GALA is a wonderful balance for me: It is produced
to high standards, reputable and yet so colorful and glamorous that
you can easily submerge yourself into its world while still feeling you
are being well informed–about subjects other than the ones I cover.
That’s what makes reading GALA so relaxing for me”
Elisabeth Pinteau (41), political journalist at Reuters, shown here having her hair done
China:
RAYLI FUSHI MEIRONG 
A unique blend of Western fash-
ion trends and traditional Asian
fashion: RAYLI FUSHI MEIRONG
(“Fashion & Beauty”) is the
leading high quality women’s
magazine in China.Two glossy
editions are available each month
as a twin pack. With around
400 pages of wearable clothes,
fashion and beauty products from
renowned international brands,
the very latest styles, accessories
and trends as well as beauty
and lifestyle topics, RAYLI FUSHI
MEIRONG represents the lifestyle
of young Chinese women aged
from 20 to 30 years old.
Publication:
monthly
Circulation: 1,380,000
”I travel all over the world,
and sometimes live in
Europe–in Hamburg
and Rome. But when I’m
in China, I regularly buy
RAYLI FUSHI MEIRONG
simply because it sets
trends, it’s young, and it
offers me fashions that
are a perfect mix between
the latest looks and Chi-
nese tradition”
Linda Chang (32), actress from Shanghai
A
WITHTHEKINDSUPPORTOFTHELABIOSTHÉTIQUESALONINPARIS

22. 42 Magazines
”In the past 15 years India has taken first
steps towards the world market. Whenever
people become more prosperous, their
interest in art and culture grows–as does
investment in these areas. Many wealthy
Indians treat themselves to art. Yet there
are not a lot of magazines in India.That’s
why it’s important to have a magazine like
ANDPERSAND that provides reputable, ex-
tensive information about the scene, about
artists and their exhibitions “
Ashwani Bhanot (37), yoga teacher from New Delhi
India:
ANDPERSAND 
Centered around art, luxury and
lifestyle topics, ANDPERSAND
caters to people who enjoy and
are interested in art, design,
culture and an exclusive lifestyle.
The magazine presents news
and updates on the latest trends
in art, design, travel and fashion
and makes recommendations for
interesting locations, restaurants
and events. ANDPERSAND also
wins over its intellectual reader-
ship with up-to-date background
features on world events.
Publication:
bi-monthly
Circulation: 60,000
43
”It’s great that we have NEON in
France now, too. One of us always
buys it.The articles have depth
and show that topics from politics
and business can also be told
in a different way”
Anika Kleinebrecht (36) and Norman Noulez (23),
hairdressers from Paris
”Whether it’s an item about computers or wildlife,
again and again I come across exciting and sur-
prising topics in MUY INTERESANTE that stand
out from the usual monotony of information. I
learn a lot too–and I’ve already impressed many
a party with my knowledge. I like the photos and
layout: It’s a very modern magazine”
Marcos Martínez López (39), musician from Valencia
Spain:
MUY INTERESANTE 
MUY INTERESANTE conveys
knowledge, interconnections,
background information, and the
latest developments and trends in
an exciting, entertaining and un-
derstandable way. As a result, the
magazine has attracted a modern,
open-minded and knowledge-
thirsty readership on the Iberian
Peninsula. MUY INTERESANTE
also offers bimonthly special
editions.
Publication:
monthly
Circulation: 170,138
France:
NEON 
Nearly ten years after the launch
of NEON in Germany, Gruner
+ Jahr has launched a French
edition of the successful lifestyle
magazine. NEON offers emotional
topicality and a broad variety
of content including high-level
reports on social and political
topics, fashion trends, relation-
ships, career, travel and pop
culture, and is both entertaining
and informative.
Publication:
monthly
Circulation: 75,000
A

23. 44 Magazines
”Why are we reading VOGUE
during a break from shop-
ping? It inspires us, because
hardly any other magazine
is as close to the fashion
world. You get the feeling
you’re sitting right by the
catwalk. Add a cappuccino
and it makes shopping even
more fun”
Annika Tol (25) and Eva Mattern (28), online
journalists from Amsterdam and The Hague
“I’ve read SER PADRES since my first pregnancy. As a new
mother you are often uncertain and have doubts, so I found
all the expert and reader advice on topics such as breastfeed-
ing and weaning very helpful.Today I’m more interested in the
long features, for example on ecological gardening”
Esther Enjuto Castellanos (49), public administration worker, and Eusebio Llacer Llorca (50), English
lecturer at the University of Valencia, with Ignacio (16), Gabriel (12) and Eusebio (10)
Spain:
SER PADRES 
SER PADRES accompanies a
child’s development from its first
years until puberty.The magazine
serves young Spanish families by
providing advice and answering
questions on sexuality, pregnancy
and giving birth, on infant care
and childrearing, so that children
can grow up in a happy environ-
ment.The supplement SER
PADRES BEBÉ is devoted to the
youngest members of the family.
Publication:
monthly
Circulation: 106,984
Netherlands:
VOGUE 
As one of the world’s foremost
fashion magazines, Vogue is
aimed at discerning, fashion-
orientated readers who appreciate
quality and editorial expertise.
Brimming with impressive
photography, VOGUE presents
topical reports and features on
culture and the fashion industry.
G+J Uitgevers brings the legend-
ary fashion magazine to Dutch
newsstands in cooperation with
Condé Nast.
Publication:
monthly
Circulation: 60,000
45
The printing and publishing house Gruner + Jahr is headquartered in
Hamburg and offers more than 500 media products in the form of
magazines, websites and digital media formats and magazines in over
30 countries around the world.
With titles such as Stern, Brigitte, Geo, Capital, Gala, Eltern, P.M. and
Essen & Trinken the publishing house stands for expertise in all areas:
news, business, science, services, fashion, and lifestyle. 11,585 employees
across the world ensure this.
Gruner + Jahr’s most important international holding is Prisma Média
in Paris. Prisma Média is a wholly owned subsidiary of Gruner + Jahr and
is the second-largest and most profitable magazine publisher in France.
Gruner + Jahr also publishes magazines in China, India, Italy, the Nether-
lands, Austria, Poland, Spain, the Adriatic countries and Mexico.
In Germany, Gruner + Jahr owns a stake in Dresdner Druck- und
Verlagshaus (60%), Motor-Presse Stuttgart (59.9%), in SPIEGEL-Verlag
Rudolf Augstein GmbH & Co. KG (25.25%) and the Hamburg School of
Journalism (Henri Nannen School, 95%).
More:→
www.guj.de
Magazines worldwide
Gruner + Jahr stands for quality journalism, a wide
variety of subjects, and innovation
New strengths: Digital
The transformation of journalistic content into the digital world is
the key challenge facing G+J. In Germany alone the publishing house
now offers more than 20 Internet services linked to its titles, such as
www.brigitte.de and www.neon.de on.There are about 60 branded
sites in Germany alone, and the brands maintain more than 150 social
media presences. Users can view information and participate in commu-
nities, as well as order books and calendars and other selected products
directly from online shops, receive newsletters, and access a variety
of databases. Gruner + Jahr’s online services are also available on
mobile devices.
More:→
www.guj.de
Quality for tomorrow:
Our own school of journalism
Quality journalism: For 34 years now, the Gruner + Jahr publishing
house has run its own school of journalism, where 20 participants a
year are trained following a tough admissions procedure.The school
provides a foundation of knowledge, research expertise and quality on
which the publisher can build.
More:→
www.journalistenschule.de
Magazinesat a glance
These are just 20
examples of the more
than 500 different
media products that
Gruner + Jahr pro-
duces worldwide

24. 46 Digital 47
“Like an
uncle…“
A brilliant idea? A bold business venture?
A start-up for the future? Young, innovative
companies in the digital media field have a
strong partner at their side in Bertelsmann
Text: Anna Butterbrod. Photos: Sebastian Pfütze
E
lika from Brazil chats with Endstille from Germany.
Allan1995 from Costa Rica plays a game of Tic Tac Toe
with Sunny Girl in Hong Kong. Leventon from South
Africa writes: “Hi, I’m new here. Looking forward to
meeting you all!”
The fact that these five people from the farthest-
flung corners of the world interact with each other is due to two
people from Cologne: Christian R. Schulte (40) and Cornelius
Rost (37), who founded the online network qeep in 2006. Two
years earlier, Facebook had revolutionized everyday life on the
Internet, and they both anticipated that the mobile Internet
would soon have an equally far-reaching effect. The two business
economist friends added an application for their own amuse-
ment – computer games. And with that a business idea was born:
a mobile community where you can meet people and play games
with them. A
Digital

25. Digital48
Schulte and Rost missed being their own
boss. They had both already successfully
founded and sold businesses, but were working
full-time for other companies when they came
up with the idea of qeep in 2005: Schulte was
working at T-Mobile, Rost at Nintendo. “In large
corporations, strategies and structure often eat
up a lot of time, which results in momentum
being lost,” says Schulte. “Being self-employed
always appealed to us because good and bad
decisions have a direct impact.”
Rost was the first to quit his day job, and de-
veloped qeep from a desk at a friend’s company.
When Schulte followed suit, they moved into
an office and finally, in 2007, into a 330m2
loft
in a trendy office building in the Kalk district of
Cologne. It looks like one of the cool open-plan
offices you see on American TV: The walls are
painted mint green, bicycles are parked next to
a pink beanbag, and photos are tacked up on a
magnetic wall, including one of a city run that
“team qeep” took part in. The smell of chicken
being fried for lunch by one of the company’s 18
employees comes from the kitchen. The rest are
ordering pizza as today is Tuesday and the Ital-
ian restaurant around the corner has a special
offer. Everyone eats together in the conference
room: Nina Lentzen (24), an intern with translu-
cent pink-purple glasses and a lip piercing, talks
with Bernd Wahlen (33), a programmer, about
his weekend trips to Marrakech, Tallinn and
Agadir. This isn’t what you’d imagine tech geeks
to be like...
qeep is in fact different in many ways: For
instance, Nina’s job duties also include delet-
“We are
doomed to grow,
as it were”
Cornelius Rost, Managing Director of qeep
Pizza day: the directors and employees order from an Italian restaurant around the corner, which regularly runs Tuesday specials
Bertelsmann Digital
Media Investments
Bertelsmann Digital Media Invest-
ments (BDMI) is a Luxembourg-
based venture capital fund
founded by Bertelsmann and
managed by an international
team from the U.S. and Germany.
BDMI’s portfolio includes startups
like the American Reading Com-
pany, deal united, drama fever,
LearnShip, Mojiva, trion, audible.
com, Returbo and RegioHelden.
49
qeep, Cologne:
Facts and figures 
When the two Managing
Directors Cornelius Rost and
Christian R. Schulte founded
qeep in 2006, they had nothing
except an idea: transferring skill
gaming and friend networks
from the Internet to cell phones.
After starting small, they now
occupy a 330m2
office loft in
the Kalk district of Cologne.
qeep currently has more than
17 million members. Rost and
Schulte employ 18 people aged
between 20 and 40 years who
have just as much fun with
their work as the members
do with computer games and
mobile networks.
The idea behind qeep is
simple:To use the service, all
you need is an Internet-ready
cell phone–download the
free software onto the device,
set up a profile, and get
started right away!
ing racy photos that members try to upload to
their profiles. The cleanup is necessary, or qeep
would soon turn into an erotic portal. “In the
beginning it was strange,” she says. “But now I
don’t even notice that I’m looking at naked peo-
ple.” At the next desk, product developer Guido
Frohn (39) and Bjorn Fietz (32), a freelance
writer, are talking shop. Actually Fietz is a labor
and social rights lawyer, but writes screenplays
for qeep adventure games as a sideline. Just
now they’re discussing the new “Area 8”, where
participants have to fight aliens in a destroyed
city. “My job as a lawyer is very matter-of-fact;
as a writer I can be creative,” he says. “It’s a nice
balance.”
Most of the team are between 20 and 40 years
old, in other words close to the target 18 to 24
age group. Each employee receives a company
cell phone. Many of them have three mobiles
on the table – for gaming, trying things out, and
making private calls. Everything looks stylish
and clean, but it’s done on a budget. The large
gray plant tubs came from a Lufthansa clear-
ance sale; the desks and chairs were bought sec-
ond-hand from other companies. Rather than
have snacks delivered from expensive third-par-
ty suppliers, the team stock a shelf themselves
and keep a running tab of what people have to
pay. Wherever possible, unnecessary extra costs
are saved – possibly the most important lesson
for a start-up.
Shortly after qeep launched, each new client
was celebrated as a sensation and cheers echoed
through the loft. “Even if only one user per
day was online, we gave it our all,” says Guido
Frohn and laughs, recalling the days when
the network consisted almost entirely of qeep
employees. “We had to play and chat like mad
so that customers didn’t feel like they were in
an empty disco.” qeep thrives on diversity. “We
are doomed to grow, as it were,” says founder
Cornelius Rost. And the qeep community is
indeed growing: It now has 17 million mem-
bers, and success has become the norm. Serene
calm prevails in the XXL office. All you can hear
is the steady tap of computer keyboards – and
a crunching sound: While Huu Ha Le (29)
programs a new game on a screen, he nibbles
breakfast cereal from a porcelain bowl. Behind
the native Vietnamese is a poster of the sexy
pop singer Shakira – a source of inspiration that
Huu is denied from his regular sitting position.
Meanwhile, Bernd, who sits opposite him, has
an ideal view. Is he the secret Shakira fan who
put the picture up? The programmer smiles and
says nothing.
One of the network’s most popular games is
“Friend Zoo” in which your friends become A

26. 50 Digital
pets that you sell to other players. Each sale
increases the value of the animal. The network’s
currency is q-points. Customers can buy q-
points (1,000 units cost $1) to use as stakes for
games. This is how qeep makes 80 percent of its
revenues. The remaining 20 percent comes from
advertising. qeep employees are particularly in
demand as pets because it’s as though you were
friends with Mark Zuckerberg himself.
Virtual gifts, which appear as small pictures
at the top of the recipient’s profile, are also on
offer. A $5 diamond ring is the most sought-
after. Several times a day the $100 Infinity
Diamond is also ordered. Neither of the two
directors expected such a high-priced, purely
virtual gift to sell so well. “You can’t test mem-
bers’ reactions in advance – we have to rely on
our gut instincts,” says Schulte. In the case of
the Infinity Diamond it was a good one - 1,122
users have bought one since its introduction
two years ago. “But you shouldn’t try to overdo
things,” says Schulte. “Otherwise you can ruin
things pretty quickly.”
And that would be fatal, especially now that
things are going so well. Every month qeep
adds another 500,000 new customers, and the
company will soon be turning a profit. It has
only been able to keep going financially thanks
to its sponsors, one of which is Bertelsmann
Digital Media Investments. “They not only bring
“We want people
to feel virtually
at home here“
Cornelius Rost, qeep Managing Director
Cornelius Rost:
Managing Director 
Cornelius Rost studied Business
Administration at the Beisheim
School of Management
(WHU) in Vallendar, the Ecole
Supérieure de Commerce de
Toulouse and the University of
Western Australia. From 1999
to 2001 he established the
Internet communities amiro and
ciao as Founder and Marketing
Director. From 2002 to 2006 he
was European Brand Manager
at Nintendo for Game Boy Ad-
vance and Nintendo DS. He is
married and has two daughters
(aged 2 and 4).
51
money to the table, but also know-how and a
network that has opened quite a few doors for
us,” says Schulte. Bertelsmann owns shares
in qeep, so important steps are coordinated
beforehand. “What’s special about Bertelsmann
is that we were assigned a kind of ‘uncle’ who
knows the industry well and helps us out when
we have questions.” Schulte and Rost presented
their concept to Bertelsmann at the end of 2006
and were given the nod three months later. This
For qeep employees, the digital
challenge lies primarily in their own
enjoyment of playing the games.
They invented almost all of the
games offered
The BDMI investment Skimlinks, which
helps website publishers to monetize
their content, increased its revenues
by more than 80 percent and scored
more than three billion page views in
December 2012 alone. Many of the
Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments
fund’s holdings are on an expansion-
ist course. One example: in 2012, the
shopping portal Mogujie expanded its
leadership in the social e-commerce
sector, increased its reach by 200 per-
cent, and enabled transactions worth
$30 million per month.
More:→
www.bdmifund.com
Discover opportunities
Believing in the future also means investing in
new ideas and innovations.This is what Bertelsmann Digital
Media Investments (BDMI) puts into practice
came as a big relief to the start-up directors.
“You can’t fund this kind of company yourself
indefinitely. Especially not if you want to suc-
ceed globally,” says Rost.
To keep revenues on the rise, qeep must
constantly come up with new incentives. First it
was “Sound Attacks” - loud noises that you can
send to friends, that their cell phone will play to
them. Attacks range from a high-pitched “happy
birthday” to rude bodily sounds. Since last year,
members can earn “badges” if, for example, they
upload photos three days in a row or log in ten
days in a row.
While Nina Lentzen checks the work done
by a photo administrator from Bangladesh, she
and computer scientist Michael Landen (31),
seated next to her, cultivate good customer
relations, patiently answering questions and
solving problems. They often get thank-you
emails, some with wedding photos of couples
who have met through the network. “qeep is
more than a tool,” says Rost. “We want people
to feel virtually at home here. We make it cozy
for them.” This leads to very real friendships,
such as the one between Cornelius Rost and
Irfan Khan Afridi, 33, a mechanic from Pakistan.
They bumped into each other online and have
exchanged ideas on a regular basis since then.
Recently, a package arrived at Rost’s desk from
Irfan containing gifts and Pakistani trail mix -
the perfect comfort food for the next chapter in
the company’s history... 2
Christian R. Schulte:
Managing Director 
Christian R. Schulte studied
Business Administration at the
Otto Beisheim School of Man-
agement (WHU) in Vallendar,
EDHEC in Nice and Pennsylvania
State University. He built up the
technology company econia and
worked as a strategy consultant
as well as Head of Strategy for
the German subsidiary of DEXIA
S.A. Most recently he served as
a senior manager in T-Mobile’s
strategy department. Schulte
is married and the father of
3-year-old twins.
Digitalat a glance

27. 52 Radio & Music 53
B
onjour! It’s only six in the morning, but already the
team at the Fun Radio Studio in Paris is wide awake and
ready to get to work. Bruno and his six morning-show
partners are gathered around the table and try – with
a cheery group salute – to help their listeners shake off
the last traces of sleepiness. Just to make sure the job
is done, seconds later the station hits them with a chart-topping
dance track. An upbeat style, music that you’d hear in the hottest
clubs, and sharp presenters are the recipe to Fun Radio’s success;
a recipe that goes down very well with young listeners in the 18-
34 age bracket. Since the station’s audience peaks in the morning,
between 6 and 9 a.m., Bruno dans la radio (Bruno on the radio)
is the most important program of the day. Waking up, having
breakfast, commuting to work – Bruno and his team accompany
their listeners through all these stages of the morning to get their
day off to a good start. Fun Radio’s listeners are mobile and A
RadioGood vibes
on the
airwaves–
Fun Radio
The station with the “dance-floor sound”
gives us a foretaste of what radio
of tomorrow will be like: friendly and ever
closer to listeners thanks to the
new digital media and social networks
Text: Olaf Tarmas. Photos: Odile Hain