About markenartikel

markenartikel

markenartikel is a German-language monthly magazine devoted to brand management, published in Hamburg. Billing itself "Das Magazin für Markenführung", it reports in a practice-oriented and well-founded manner on companies and presents their brand-management strategies and management concepts in portraits and interviews. Published by the New Business Verlag GmbH & Co. KG and edited by the Markenverband e.V. in Berlin, the magazine is now in its 89th volume (2026), making it one of the longest-running brand-management publications in the German-speaking world. Its readership consists of brand managers, marketing directors, and executives at branded-goods manufacturers, retailers, and agencies who work on brand strategy as a professional discipline. In a trade-press landscape dominated by advertising and media topics, markenartikel occupies a specialized niche: the strategic leadership of brands as a management task.

Overview

The magazine appears monthly with two double issues (January/February and July/August), in DIN A4 format. According to the publisher's 2026 media data, the print run stands at 3,500 copies. The digital edition publishes ten issues per year, and subscribers gain access to the full online archive at markenartikel-magazin.de. The editorial program is structured around the themes of brand strategy, marketing management, trade and e-commerce, and people and events — the latter covering appointments and industry gatherings.

The target audience is defined narrowly: brand managers and marketing executives in the brand-name industry (Markenartikelindustrie), the traditional constituency of the Markenverband, the German Brands Association. Articles examine how companies build, position, and renew their brands — from brand architecture and brand experience to retail media, artificial intelligence in marketing, and the international risks facing German exporters. The magazine's self-description emphasizes portraits and interviews that present the brand-management strategies and management concepts of companies in a practice-oriented and well-founded way.

The readership is concentrated in Germany, with the Markenverband's membership of branded-goods manufacturers forming the institutional core. The Hamburg editorial base reflects the publisher's location; the New Business Verlag operates from Nebendahlstraße in Hamburg and publishes a portfolio of business and media titles. The magazine functions as a community medium for the brand-management profession, with subscription models including trial subscriptions and annual memberships of the markenartikel community.

History

With its 89th volume in 2026, markenartikel traces its origins to the late 1930s, making it one of the oldest continuously published business magazines in Germany. The title emerged from the world of the German branded-goods industry, whose association, the Markenverband, was founded in 1903 and has represented manufacturers of branded articles for more than a century. The magazine developed as the editorial voice of this constituency, documenting the professionalization of brand management from the postwar Wirtschaftswunder era through the marketing science of the late twentieth century to the digital transformation of the present.

The Hamburg publishing house behind the title, the New Business Verlag, is led by publisher Peter Strahlendorf and publishes the magazine in cooperation with the Markenverband e.V. of Berlin as editor (Herausgeber). This dual structure — a specialist publisher handling production and commercialization, an industry association providing editorial anchoring — has remained stable over the decades and gives the title its character as a quasi-official organ of the German brand-management profession.

In recent years the magazine has extended its print tradition into digital formats: the website publishes current news on brand management, trade, and e-commerce topics, while the digital subscription and online archive serve readers who consume the content primarily on screen. The editorial themes have tracked the industry's agenda — from the rise of e-commerce and retail media to the application of artificial intelligence in marketing and the growing complexity of international business for brands.

Coverage and Content

The editorial coverage of markenartikel is organized around the discipline of brand management in its full breadth. The "Marke & Marketing" section carries analyses of brand strategy topics: how companies manage brand portfolios, build brand experiences, respond to consumption trends, and organize their marketing processes. Recent coverage has addressed the fashion market's development, the use of artificial intelligence in advertising, and the structural challenges of brand leadership in times of economic uncertainty.

The "Handel & E-Commerce" section examines the retail side of brand management — retail media, online trade, and the changing relationship between manufacturers and retailers. The magazine reports on market research findings, such as the IFH Köln analyses of the fashion market, and on the strategic implications of digitalization for brand manufacturers. The "Personen & Events" section covers appointments in brand management — for example, new directors of brand and digital functions at companies such as Jägermeister — and industry events, awards, and conferences.

Portraits and interviews form the editorial signature of the title. Conversations with chief marketing officers — such as the CMO of Rügenwalder Mühle on brand leadership between attitude and experience — and with professors of marketing and agency executives give the magazine its practitioner-oriented character. The reporting is consistently framed around management concepts: how decisions are made, how organizations are structured, and how strategies are implemented, rather than around advertising creativity alone.

Organization and Ownership

markenartikel is published by the New Business Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, based at Nebendahlstraße 16, 22041 Hamburg. The publisher is led by Peter Strahlendorf. The editor (Herausgeber) is the Markenverband e.V., Unter den Linden 42, 10117 Berlin — the German Brands Association, which represents manufacturers of branded goods and has anchored the magazine editorially throughout its history.

The magazine appears monthly with a print run of 3,500 copies according to the 2026 media data. It is printed in sheet offset in DIN A4 format. The editorial team works from Hamburg, and the publisher's media data lists the title's advertising contacts, technical specifications, and subscription terms. The commercial model combines print and online advertising with subscriptions: readers can choose trial subscriptions and annual subscriptions that include ten digital issues per year and access to the complete online archive.

Precise readership figures beyond the print run are not publicly confirmed in freely available sources. The title's reach is defined by its penetration of the brand-management profession — brand managers, marketing directors, and executives at branded-goods manufacturers, retailers, and agencies — rather than by mass circulation. The Markenverband's membership provides the institutional readership base, and the magazine's community subscription model reflects its role as a professional network medium.

Digital Presence

The digital home of the magazine is markenartikel-magazin.de, which publishes current news, analyses, and interviews on brand management, trade, and e-commerce topics. The site is organized by editorial rubrics — Marke & Marketing, Handel & E-Commerce, Personen & Events — and offers registered subscribers access to the full article archive. The website functions as both a news portal and the subscription and community platform of the title, with login areas for members of the markenartikel community.

The magazine also maintains a presence on LinkedIn, where the publisher promotes current articles and engages with the brand-management community. Beyond article distribution, the digital channels support the title's role as a professional community: the Markenverband's member companies and their brand managers use the platform to follow personnel changes, award decisions, and event announcements across the brand-name industry. The digital subscription model, with ten digital issues per year and archive access, complements the print edition and serves readers who follow the title primarily online. The publisher's broader digital infrastructure at newbusinessverlag.de presents the magazine's media data and the publisher's wider program of business and media titles.