About Coolibri

Coolibri

Coolibri is the Rhine-Ruhr's city magazine — founded 1983 by Roland Scherer, free, monthly, and for years Germany's most-read Stadtillustrierte. From the pubs, clubs, cinemas, and shops — 3,000+ distribution points — the magazine informs the region's 16+ audience: the music, the film, the culture, the parties, the gastro — the region's largest event calendar. The publisher's seat is Dortmund (regional newsrooms in Bochum, Düsseldorf, Wuppertal); since 2013 the coolibri media GmbH & Co. KG belongs to Lensing Media. In 2016 the Allensbach analysis counted 100,000 copies and 412,000 readers per issue: the circulation-strongest and most-read city magazine in Germany.

Overview

The magazine serves the Rhine-Ruhr's going-out generation: the 16+ (originally the 16-to-39) — the party-goers, the culture fans, the cinema visitors. The free model — the Anzeigenträger (advertising carrier) — finances the editorial: the advertisers pay, the readers take it free. The monthly rhythm — 100+ pages — follows the region's event rhythm: the concerts, the parties, the premieres. The distribution system — the free magazine's logistics — deserves its telling. The 3,000+ Verteilstellen (distribution points) — the Gaststätten (pubs), the Clubs, the Kinos (cinemas), the Geschäfte (shops) — place the magazine where the audience goes out: the scene's locations. The distribution limits — west Krefeld/Mönchengladbach, east Hamm, north Haltern, south behind Remscheid — define the territory: the Rhine-Ruhr and the Bergisches Land — the cross-city reach. The regional newsrooms — Bochum (the Ruhrgebiet), Düsseldorf (the Rheinland), Wuppertal (the Bergische) — localize the content: the three sub-regions' events. The Dortmund seat — the publisher's headquarters — centralizes the production: the 100+ pages monthly. The free model's logistics — the monthly refilling of 3,000 points — demands the organization: the distribution's machinery — the city magazine's infrastructure.

The editorial program — the music, the film, the culture, the theater, the art, the party and gastro tips — serves the leisure: the region's largest event calendar as the core. The classifieds — the Kleinanzeigenteil (contact ads and more) — serve the community: the readers' marketplace. The online offer — since 2008 (the complete regional cinema program, the current event tips) — extends the print: the daily currency.

History

Coolibri — founded 1983 by Roland Scherer — began as the Rhine-Ruhr's free city magazine: the Roland Scherer Verlags- und Werbeservice publishing the monthly for the region's party generation. The "Herz beißt Haifisch" — the dating institution — deserves its telling. Since the early 1990s — supplementing the extensive contact-ads section — Coolibri organized the dating parties in the distribution area: the readers' real meetings. The concept — the print contact ads' live extension — built the community: the party generation's couples. The coolibri-card — 2004 to 2010 (24 euros a year, discounts at 300+ partners) — monetized the loyalty: the readers' benefits. The campus magazine — since 2014 (the students' own title) — recruited the young: the universities' readers. The edition coolibri — since 2016 (Campus, Lust auf Gesund, Lust auf Familie, Rund um den Baldeneysee und Kettwig) — segmented the audience: the health, the family, the lake — the specials' strategy. The brand extensions — the parties, the card, the specials — diversified the free magazine: the community's media. The coolibri-card — 2004 to 2010 (discounts at 300+ partners in the distribution area) — bound the readers: the loyalty.

The Lensing acquisition — the ownership's story — deserves its telling. The Überblick Medien — the Dortmund publisher (the gastronomy guides for Dortmund, Essen, Bochum) — a 100% subsidiary of the Medienhaus Lensing (Ruhr Nachrichten, Münstersche Zeitung) — acquired the Roland Scherer Verlags- und Werbeservice: the Coolibri's publisher. The founder's confirmation — Roland Scherer (the founder and managing partner) confirmed the sale to newsroom.de — pending the Bundeskartellamt's approval: the cartel office's condition. The staff meeting — Scherer and Sven Merten (the Überblick Medien's Geschäftsführer) informing the team — marked the transition: the new owner. The redactional expansion — under Chefredakteur Michael Blatt and Online-Chef Marco Bonk the journalistic profile "deutlich ausgebaut" (significantly expanded) — professionalized the free magazine: the city magazine's journalism. The Lensing house — the Dortmund media house — gave the backing: the regional media's stability — the free magazine's future. The 2016 peak — the Allensbach's verdict — deserves its telling. The Allensbacher Markt- und Werbeträger-Analyse — the media analysis — counted 100,000 copies and 412,000 readers per issue: the auflagenstärkste (circulation-strongest) and meistgelesene (most-read) Stadtmagazin Deutschlands. The claim — "die meistgelesene Stadtillustrierte Deutschlands" — defined the brand: the Rhine-Ruhr's reach. The earlier figure — the 170,000 monthly copies (newsroom.de's report) — showed the scale: the 3,000 distribution points' throughput. The 2017 IVW exit — the Austritt aus der unabhängigen Auflagenprüfung — followed the sinking circulations: the city-magazine segment's massive pressure (the same week DuMont sold Berlin's tip). The free model's vulnerability — the advertising's cyclicality — hit the Stadtmagazine: the Coolibri's retrenchment — the regional focus, the specials. The 2017 IVW exit — after sinking circulations — marked the press crisis: the city magazines' pressure. The edition coolibri — since 2016 (Campus, Lust auf Gesund, Lust auf Familie, Rund um den Baldeneysee und Kettwig) — and the campus magazine (since 2014) diversify: the specials.

Coverage and Content

The editorial program follows the region's leisure rhythm. The music coverage — the concerts, the clubs — guides the nights: the party tips. The film coverage — the cinema program (the region's complete, online) — serves the moviegoers: the premieres. The culture coverage — the theater, the art — addresses the educated: the exhibitions, the stages. The gastro coverage — the restaurants, the bars — feeds the readers: the tips.

The event calendar — the magazine's core — deserves its telling. The "größte Veranstaltungskalender der Region" (the region's largest event calendar) — the core piece — lists the Rhine-Ruhr's dates: the concerts, the parties, the theater, the cinema, the culture. The calendar's comprehensiveness — the three sub-regions (Ruhrgebiet, Rheinland, Bergisches Land) — serves the cross-city readers: the mobility. The online calendar — the current tips (since 2008) — updates the print: the daily additions. The cinema program — the region's complete (online) — guides the moviegoers: the times, the films. The calendar's function — the going-out's planning — defines the magazine: the Stadtillustrierte's purpose — the region's leisure, monthly mapped, daily updated. The classifieds — the contact ads, the marketplace — connect the readers: the community. The specials — the edition coolibri (health, family, campus, Baldeneysee) — deepen the topics: the target groups. The online coverage — the current tips, the cinema program — keeps current: the daily.

Organization and Ownership

Coolibri is published by the coolibri media GmbH & Co. KG, Dortmund — since 2013 a 100% subsidiary of Lensing Media (the Medienhaus Lensing: Ruhr Nachrichten, Münstersche Zeitung); the Überblick Medien (a 100% Lensing subsidiary) acquired the Roland Scherer Verlags- und Werbeservice. The founder — Roland Scherer — was the managing partner until the sale. The regional newsrooms — Bochum (Ruhrgebiet), Düsseldorf (Rheinland), Wuppertal (Bergisches Land) — cover the distribution area: the local presence.

The business model follows the free-press pattern: the advertising (the region's gastronomy, events, culture) finances the free magazine; the specials and the online extend the revenue. The Überblick Medien's gastro guides (Dortmund, Essen, Bochum) complement: the food media. Detailed circulation and revenue figures beyond the 2016 Allensbach are not publicly confirmed (IVW exit 2017).

Digital Presence

The magazine's digital home is coolibri.de: the magazine's contents and additional contents — the complete regional cinema program, the current event tips — since 2008. The online chief — Marco Bonk — leads the digital: the current developments in the distribution area. The social media — the channels — reach the party generation: the event tips, the culture.

The digital strategy follows the city-magazine logic: the print monthly for the 3,000 distribution points — the pubs, the clubs — the portal for the daily currency — the cinema, the events. As the Rhine-Ruhr's city magazine — the 1983-founded free monthly, published from Dortmund — Coolibri remains the region's going-out guide: the parties, the culture, and the calendar — monthly in print, daily on coolibri.de.