gentle rain: Launch of a new Hamburg-themed magazine
Hamburg, 25 July 2016 – A new international magazine is making its debut in Hamburg: gentle rain – and other reasons to love Hamburg is Hamburg’s first English-language city magazine. Jointly initiated by Hamburg Marketing GmbH and the editorial and design agency Die Brueder, this new magazine is mainly targeted at guests, potential new residents and other interested parties from abroad.
“gentle rain addresses the enormous creative potential of cities and captures both the tensions and contradictions arising from people living together in an urban environment such as Hamburg,” says Thorsten Kausch, managing director of Hamburg Marketing GmbH. “This new print publication is for all those who would like to discover or rediscover Hamburg from various perspectives,” Mr Kausch adds.
In each issue, the magazine is going to present the living and working models of young people living in Hamburg, such as the drone start-up in the Oberhafen creative quarter or the micro-boatyard on the southern banks of the Elbe at Wilhelmsburg. The authors, all of who are from Hamburg, focus on topical issues from Hamburg while at the same time keeping the broader international context in sight. The first issue reports on the Hilldegarden project, a citizens’ initiative for greening a World War II bunker in the district of St Pauli. In doing so, the magazine also addresses core questions relating to sustainability, urban climate as well as local residents’ roles in building projects and in shaping the public domain.
The first issue, which has a print run of 40,000 copies, has been made available starting today, Monday 25 July, at station bookstores and kiosks, press wholesalers and retail outlets as well as online at gentlerainmag.com. In addition, this “bookazine” – a hybrid of book and magazine – will be distributed at German and international trade fairs and events. With an estimated two issues per year, the publication is aimed at strengthening the Hamburg Metropolitan Region’s profile and increasing its international visibility mainly in the target markets of Scandinavia, the UK and the United States.
“In terms of content, design and distribution channels, we consciously decided to align our product with those of independent magazines in Germany and abroad. The main focus here was to offer an authentic narrative of the city in words and pictures, to ensure a transparent policy regarding the magazine’s sponsors and to provide a medium that meets the highest standards,” says Malte Brenneisen of Die Brueder. The company, which is based in Hamburg and Berlin, designed and serves as editor for gentle rain, while Hamburg Marketing supports the print publication in terms of coordination and distribution.
Ten years ago, Hamburg Marketing launched the print magazine Hamburg: Das Magazin aus der Metropole, which was published as a periodic supplement to German newspapers such as Süddeutsche Zeitung and Die Zeit. It was awarded the Best of Corporate Publishing Award (since 2016: Best of Content Marketing Award), a prestigious European prize, and with its high-quality editorial content established itself as a city marketing tool – the approach has since been adapted by many other cities. Now Hamburg Marketing has decided to discontinue this product.
“Our goal is to provide fresh impetus to Hamburg,” says Mr Kausch. “gentle rain is now a new means of declaring our love for Hamburg. We are hoping to take many of Hamburg’s English-speaking locals and international guests on this exciting journey with us.” The new magazine’s target audience corresponds with the “cosmopolitan” segment of society targeted by Hamburg Marketing – a group that is mainly characterised by tolerance, creativity, liberality and openness.
Media data in brief:
First published: 25/07/2016
Planned frequency of publication: two issues per year
Print run: 40,000 copies
Price: 8.00 euro
Advertising rates: please e-mail hello@gentlerainmag.com
Distribution: station bookstores, press wholesalers (Northern Germany), press exporters (major European cities), direct distribution via Hamburg retail traders, international media shops as well as online at gentlerainmag.com
Media contact
Hamburg Marketing GmbH
Wexstrasse 7
D-20355 Hamburg
Ingrid Meyer-Bosse
Corporate Communications Hamburg Marketing GmbH
Tel.: +49 40 411 110 638
Fax: +49 40 411 110 615
E-mail: ingrid.meyer-bosse@marketing.hamburg.de