HR Today wins the QR Awards 2017, WegWandern.ch receives special prize

Rarely has the Q-Award jury been so quick to agree, according to the press release: "Excellent topic setting," "Practice that helps," "Motivating, how cross-media work is done offensively here," "Lustful in print, great connection to online," "Here, the focus is on the big picture, not the small stuff" - the statements about the 2017 winner provide a convincing verdict. HR Today convinced all along the line with good content, beautiful implementation and a convincing cross-media strategy.

It's no coincidence that the winner is successful in both print and digital. It has already become apparent in recent years and manifested itself quite clearly in 2017: More and more trade publishers are fit for the cross-media challenges of the future. While even larger publishers are still struggling with their online strategy, a few of the "little ones" are showing how to become market leaders today with a skillful mix of print and digital offerings.

On the move on over 20 channels

Like the title HR Today, founded in 1998, which takes a fresh approach to the rather cumbersome topic of human resources. This also includes recognizing the signs of the times early on: The publication went online as early as 2001 and has consistently pushed ahead with its multimedia strategy ever since. Today, in addition to the print products, over 20 (sic!) different channels are aimed at readers. These include blogs, videos, podcasts, seminars, certified courses, webinars, newsletters, a job portal, software tools and much more.

Thanks to this aggressive strategy, HR Today.ch has become the HR content provider with the most hits on the web. Today, the trade magazine has 56,000 visitors per month, who access over 125,000 pages.

In 2014, the publisher also began to publish targeted content on social media channels. On Xing News, for example, HR Today is clearly in first place with over 11,000 subscribers (followed by Bilanz with 5,000 subscribers). All in all, more than 20,000 followers read HR Today content on various channels.

How to make money digitally

But it is not only the digital distribution that is impressive, but also the commercial success. The share of subscription revenues from the online sector is now over 40 percent, and in the commercial sector, digital offerings bring in more than 45 percent of revenues.

According to the jury, HR Today has understood how to consistently build a media brand and use it to play on all possible channels. In addition, there are innovative ideas to give the brand a further boost. One example is the idea of the HR Today Newstar: Every year, nine startups can finance a joint annual appearance in HR Today. Each startup is then comprehensively presented and integrated into HR Today events. Of course, the whole thing runs cross-medially in print, online and at events. Or the HR Today research campaign, in which various questions are first answered by HR managers, then evaluated by readers via a survey, and finally presented at an event. The fact that names such as Google, Swisscom and ABB are represented on the podium at these events shows the high standing that HR Today has in the market.

The clever strategy is also evident in the blog, where experts comment on fixed topics. The articles are extremely skillfully networked and pushed via newsletter, website, print and social media. And a special webinar studio was set up specifically for the extremely successful webinars.

Exemplary print edition

But it is not only the cross-media strategy that is convincing, the print editions also demonstrate the highest quality: large format, clear picture concept, well-written articles, beautiful feel - a model for other trade magazines. In addition to ten issues per year in German, there are six French issues, four dossiers (D+F), a recruiting guide and various topic specials. This results in a paid circulation of around 3800 copies, with the French edition reaching 2100 copies. The certified circulation has even increased slightly in recent years.

Thanks to this forward strategy, HR Today has become the industry leader in the DACH region in terms of reach. Next year, the media brand can proudly celebrate its 20th anniversary - the Q Award is a successful start to this celebration.

The special price

Until now, the Q-Award has only been given to print products that often also had a convincing online strategy. However, WegWandern.ch, which is only accessible on the web, also entered for this year's award. The hiking portal convinced the Q-Award jury so much that they presented it with the special recognition "Outstanding digital trade publication".

WegWandern.ch could not even appear in print, because the portal makes full use of digital possibilities. The website consists primarily of a comprehensive search filter that can be used to select hiking suggestions of all kinds according to individual needs. Hikers can put together their own routes according to criteria such as region, radius search, degree of difficulty, altitude, alpine inns, barbecue sites, accommodations, SAC huts, high-altitude trails, family trails, etc. The website also includes themed blogs, portraits, and a selection of other information. In addition, there are themed blogs, portraits of hiking regions, tips, event calendars, bulletin boards and digital summit books.

Small team, great success

The jury was not only impressed by the usability of the website, but also by the success of the young project. Since its launch in July 2016, the site has been attracting more visitors every month. For the year 2017, over one million page views will be counted, with a strong upward trend. And all this with an investment of no less than 2,500 francs. This does not, of course, include the work of the two founders Claudia Ruf and Yvonne Zürcher, who impressively prove that even without an investor or further support, but with a lot of passion and clever implementation, a new media project can still be successful in today's world. This courageous entrepreneurship deserves respect - and in this case also an award from the Q-Award jury.