REPUBLIK: THE SUCCESS STORY BEHIND THE GERMAN MEDIA START UP.
The digital magazine which promotes democracy and independent journalism.
Republik is a digital magazine for politics, business and society which represents the independent philosophy of journalism. Republik was launched in January 2018, it is established in Switzerland and is published in German. But if you read English, you can also visit the official global site and learn more about its actions and values any time through your desktop PC or Smartphone. The magazine promises to upload three pieces of journalism a day (articles, podcasts, photo or video), that will be well researched and factual. People of the Republik team mention that they work for relevant, independent and innovative journalism without bullshit and content has great value. That’s their motto and they have a strong belief in freedom of the press. They also believe that without journalism, there is no democracy. According to their English Manifesto, “if journalism dies, it is the end of an open society, of freedom of expression, of the right to choose between competing arguments”.
Republik relies on an ad-free business model and its readers are the only customers and bosses. Republik team gives people the opportunity to become automatically co- publishers with a subscription in the existing email list. Behind Republik there is a non-profit cooperative named “Project R”, which promotes democracy by strengthening journalism as the fourth power. Republik is Project R’s first project and its primary goal has been from the beginning to develop journalism and provide relevant information to citizens, in order to help them form a critical knowledge. Nine co- conspirators, calling themselves Project R had invited friends to mark the crowdfunding campaign, they even put out a call on social media for others to join them. The crowdfunding campaign for Republik was a great success and the fundraising result was impressive, because they met their initial goal from the first day. Just in a few hours thousands of people became supporters and currently there are about 21.531 co-publishers.
Having studied Republik’s business model canvas, we can realize that its value propositions focus on what matters most to the citizens / readers and on unsolved pains, such as the problem of fake news and independent journalism. Also, its value propositions include responsibility for the public, free journalism and contribution to democracy, by publishing cross-checked articles about politics, business and society. Republik differentiates from competition because its main value proposition is to engage audiences into the publishing process.
The customer segmentation, addresses German men and women of all ages and also all those citizens who are seeking objective information and cross- checked news. Republik builds strong and interactive relationships with readers. Its value propositions are delivered to customers through the official website, blog and social media (Facebook, Twitter). The Key Activities of Republik include creation of quality online content, news update and current affairs.
The main key partner of Republik is Project R and its senior crew. According to the business model canvas, its Key Resources are journalists, editors, authors, IT Manager, image consultants, software developer, finance dept and marketing team. Its Cost Structure included software development, webhosting, salaries, marketing and operation costs. In conclusion, the Revenue Streams are based on premium subscriptions, pay per month/year (low cost pricing), flexible pricing tactics and donations.
Taking into consideration all the above data, Republik constitutes an innovative and successful digital magazine, which focuses on free journalism and responsibility for the whole society. After having studied Republik’s business model canvas, we can certainly admit that an expert team composed of journalists, editors, reporters, marketeers, finance and image consultants, created an ad free magazine, in a secure data cloud, which offers objective and independent information. Their vision was to offer to the society diversity and plurality of real news and contribute to democracy. Following a low cost pricing policy, Republik establishes essential relationships with customers and keeps in touch with them through various events.
Here’s Republik’s Business Model Canvas:
