Business News
Océ and Media Group Limburg team up for first Dutch micro-zoned newspaper
Tuesday 05. October 2010 - "Segmented newspapers" for MENU 2010 produced on an Océ JetStream inkjet printing system.
Océ, an international leader in digital document management and delivery, today announces its partnership with Media Group Limburg (MGL) and Menu 2010 to produce the first “segmented newspaper” in the Netherlands. As part of Mecom, a leading UK based publisher of newspapers, MGL publishes two of the largest daily newspapers in the Dutch province of Limburg: Dagblad De Limburger and Limburgs Dagblad. Both newspapers are very popular and attract a daily readership of 500,000 people. Menu 2010 is a new biennial series of events around the food and agricultural industry and its impact on culture in Northern Limburg.
A unique proposition for The Netherlands
As support for the event, a dedicated newspaper will be published and printed in a joint effort between Océ, MGL and Menu 2010. Some 10,000 newspapers will be distributed at a series of five events in five versions in key towns and cities of the province – Gennep, Venray, Horst a/d Maas, Peel & Maas and Venlo – on each of the five weekends in October.
The first publication of its kind in the Netherlands, according to MGL, the Menu 2010 editions of Dagblad De Limburger are being printed in concert with Océ on an Océ JetStream 2200 continuous feed, full-color inkjet press. The Océ JetStream 2200 system prints up to 2,000 36-page tabloid newspapers per hour or 17,000 copies per eight-hour shift. Each copy is potentially an individual product, printed digitally with no loss of speed or quality compared to more traditional printing methods. The production is provided by Druco, a leading edge print service provider and Océ customer based in the Belgian city of Halle.
Regional segmentation offers new opportunities for publishers
Menu 2010 is a prelude to the Floriade 2012 floral exhibition, says the Menu 2010 organization. Floriade 2012 is expected to attract more than two million visitors to the Province of Limburg. An integral part of Menu 2010 is an innovative publishing concept to promote both events.
The 24-page Menu 2010 newspaper will include stories and advertisements dedicated to each of the five Northern Limburg regions. The versions specific to each of the regions will underline the cultural identity of the towns and cities within the province. Headlines and advertisements will be specific to the regions underscoring the unique capabilities of targeted digital production on inkjet presses.
The Menu 2010 publication is the ideal venue to showcase a highly segmented digital newspaper. MGL sees micro-zoning and segmentation as key opportunities to innovate the newspaper industry and attract advertisers.
Océ pioneered digital newspaper market
Océ pioneered the digital newspaper market a decade ago with its Digital Newspaper Network. More than 25 million newspaper copies have been produced globally through this network since 2001, making Océ the world market leader in digital newspaper production.
The introduction of the Océ JetStream series of digital full-color inkjet presses extended Océ production capabilities into higher run lengths, unprecedented productivity and full-color quality on par with traditional newspapers produced on offset presses. Now digital production speeds are within the scope of those required for regional and international newspapers.
Océ software enables personalization and processing
With the Océ PRISMA software suite for Graphic Arts workflow, Océ also offers solutions for generating highly personalized newspaper content. These variable applications can be processed in real time to match the speeds of the digital presses, which can be up to 150 meters per minute.
“Segmentation and micro-zoning are new publishing concepts to help reinvigorate newspaper circulation and advertising. We are fully committed to the digital newspaper market, and with Menu 2010 editions of Dagblad De Limburger, we provide a proof of concept for highly segmented local newspapers that cannot be produced economically on traditional offset presses,” said Sebastian Landesberger, Océ Executive Vice President for Production Printing.