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Every month, 25 million people use Focus Online. Around two-thirds of these visits are direct accesses. The brand has remained successful amid changes in the media landscape for 30 years. Editor-in-chief Florian Festl talks about attitude, team spirit and change.
Back in 1996, 'online' was just an add-on. Today, however, it forms the basis of everything.
When Focus Online was launched, many people were still using modems to surf the web. There was no Facebook, no smartphones and no push notifications. News was read on desktop computers, mostly in newspapers.
Since then, the landscape has changed several times. First came Google, then social media. Then came the mobile revolution, bringing huge growth and increasing dependence on platforms. And now AI. Many offerings from that era no longer exist. Focus Online does. So what has sustained this brand for three decades?
Focus Online editor-in-chief Florian Festl doesn't hesitate to answer that question. 'It's not only what has changed that's exciting, but also what has remained the same: our brand promise. We are committed to delivering reliable, relevant and constructive news to as many people in Germany as possible.'
Today, Focus Online reaches around 25 million unique users per month. 67 per cent of page views come from visits to the Focus Online app or website, with the remainder coming from platforms such as Google, Facebook, and WhatsApp. 'We are firmly anchored in the everyday news lives of people in Germany. Our most important currency is the trust we enjoy,' says Festl.
This success is based on high-quality, channel-specific content and the continuous optimisation of technology and products. For almost a year now, Focus Online has been powered by Vibe, BurdaForward's content management system. 'This system is optimally adapted to the needs of the brand and the market. We can integrate AI features quickly and seamlessly.'
In an environment where negative headlines often attract a lot of attention, Focus Online deliberately adopts a more constructive approach.
Being constructive does not mean ignoring problems. It means providing context and highlighting not only challenges, but also solutions, innovations, and effective practices. 'If you only show scandals and disasters, you create a distorted picture of reality,' Florian explains. 'Our aim is to show the whole picture — critically, but with an open mind to success.'
This approach is particularly evident in everyday situations where speed is of the essence. Although the channels have changed — from websites and apps to videos and social media — the basic idea has remained the same: identifying topics early on, researching them thoroughly and reporting on them reliably.
The Olympic Games clearly demonstrated the effectiveness of teamwork at Focus Online, with 21 million page views in just over two and a half weeks and live coverage of around 80 competitions, not to mention the integration of a new ticker tool. Projects like this can only succeed when editorial, product, technology and distribution teams collaborate.
Added to this is the internal exchange of ideas. 'Here, you constantly get new ideas through conversations and short communication channels,' says Florian Festl. This proximity is especially advantageous in times of technological transformation, as it enables a quick reaction time. 'We also talk and cooperate intensively with our colleagues at Focus to jointly promote the Focus+ paid subscription service.'
Three decades after its launch, Focus Online is bigger, more technically advanced and more widely positioned than ever before. However, its core has remained the same: providing relevant and understandable news to a wide audience in Germany.
Perhaps that is the real constant amidst all this change. It's not about standing still, but about evolving while maintaining one's own standards.
