IMTEST/Vertical Hub: from Print Niche to Digital Powerhouse
2026 Finalist
Overview of this campaign
The objective of this campaign is to demonstrate how IMTEST was radically rebuilt from a trusted print brand into a high-growth, digital-first service journalism powerhouse - and how this transformation created a scalable and repeatable blueprint for legacy media organizations.
At the heart of the campaign is the objective to showcase genuine innovation beyond digitization. IMTEST did not transfer print workflows into digital channels; it abandoned print logic altogether. Content strategy, production processes, and monetization models were fundamentally redesigned around user intent, product launch cycles, real-time performance data, and modular digital assets. The campaign makes this structural reset explicit and positions IMTEST as proof that service journalism can thrive when fully aligned with digital economics.
A core objective is to clearly document exceptional and measurable business results. The campaign highlights explosive digital reach growth, a substantial reduction in operating costs, and a decisive shift toward high-margin digital revenue streams. These outcomes demonstrate that journalistic quality, when combined with data-driven decision-making and performance-oriented monetization, can deliver both scale and profitability.
Another key objective is to position IMTEST as the foundation of the FUNKE Vertical Hub, a new organizational and commercial operating model. IMTEST evolved into a centralized unit for testing, guides, and buying advice, enabling systematic content reuse, efficient production, and group-wide distribution across FUNKE’s brand portfolio. The campaign explicitly frames IMTEST not as a one-off turnaround, but as a scalable model transferable across categories, markets, and media brands.
Ultimately, the campaign aims to establish FUNKE as a benchmark for future-proof service journalism. IMTEST proves that even deeply rooted legacy media brands can be structurally transformed - delivering sustainable growth, economic resilience, and long-term strategic relevance in the digital age.
Results for this campaign
The transformation of IMTEST delivered clear, measurable, and disproportionate results, fundamentally improving both performance and economics. Growth was achieved not through increased spend, but through a complete rebuild of the business model.
Crucially, IMTEST was not digitized - it was rebuilt as a digital-first business. Print-driven cost structures were dismantled and replaced with a scalable, performance-based operating model. As a direct result, operating costs were reduced by 42%, even as digital output, speed, and reach increased significantly. Legacy fixed costs were eliminated, workflows redesigned for continuous publishing, and content production modularized to maximize reuse and efficiency.
At the same time, the transformation delivered strong commercial growth. Total revenues increased by 24%, stabilizing IMTEST in a structurally declining print market and returning the brand to a sustainable growth trajectory. Most notably, digital revenues grew by 128%, driven by a fundamental shift in monetization strategy. Low-performing display advertising was replaced by conversion-driven affiliate models, intent-based buying guides, and the expansion of IMTEST’s trusted quality seals into a high-margin licensing business.
Beyond brand-level performance, IMTEST laid the foundation for the FUNKE Vertical Hub, establishing a centralized capability for tests, guides, and service journalism across the group. The rebuilt IMTEST model enables systematic content reuse, efficient group-wide distribution, and scalable monetization across FUNKE’s regional media portfolio. As a result, IMTEST now contributes significant and growing digital revenues to FUNKE’s long-term regional media vision.
These results prove that the transformation was not cosmetic, but structural. IMTEST evolved from a cost-intensive print brand into a profitable digital growth engine and group-wide blueprint, demonstrating that service journalism - when rebuilt around data, user intent, and digital economics - can deliver sustainable profitability, operational resilience, and strategic impact at scale.
