Printed news with a personalised twist - but is Niuu new enough?

News aggregators: 'kleptomaniacs' and 'plagiarists' of newspapers' content, according to Rupert Murdoch. In the UK, recent discussions between the Newspaper Licensing Agency (NLA) and newspapers have tried to address the issue of aggregation of printed news in an online world.

But a new print product launched last week in Berlin, Germany, which lets the reader select what sections from different newspapers and sites are included, aims to rework this model.

Personalised newspaper service Niuu, which launched in Berlin last week, is licensing individual pages from 20 newspapers including the New York Times, Tagesspiegel and Bild.

The individualised editions are then home delivered to users, who sign up for the service at a price of €1.80, or €1.20 for students, and must select their news sources for the following day's paper by 2pm.

"We asked the target group what the most convenient medium to get this information in was and most of them told us that paper was still the most comfortable," Wanja Oberhof, co-founder of Niuu alongside business partner Hendrik Tiedmann, told Journalism.co.uk.

Newspaper groups have embraced the idea, says Oberhof: "First they get money and then they get statistical data on who's reading what. It's a way to present their brand to a younger group."

E-reading devices aren't yet 'sexy or stylish enough', adds Oberhof, though he admits that this could change as more devices become available on mobiles.

The idea of personalisation also appeals to advertisers and while relying heavily on an ad-funded model, Oberhof hopes the ability for advertisers to target readers will make it more sustainable than in traditional print editions. But do Niuu's readers have concerns about behavioural targetting?

Strict data laws in Germany prevent Niuu from selling on customer information to advertising clients, says Oberhof. But levels of personalisation can be offered to advertisers, such as distinguishing between male and female readers or readers in different localities, as long as it is carried out by Niuu.

Since its launch the papers have carried a different ad for car manufacturer BMW every day, featuring each subscribers name in the advertisement, for example.

Printed and delivered from Monday to Saturday, the service initially focused on younger readers, says Oberhof, basing the model on his own experience after moving out of the family home.

"I ordered different newspaper subscriptions, but receiving all of those didn't build up my knowledge of the news or add to my lifestyle. I wasn't interested in all of the stuff in the newspapers but there are little bits that are of interest to me," he explains.

With a choice of more than 600 RSS feeds from online partner sites the personalised papers also bring in content from blogs, websites and specialist publications, he adds.

But print was the demand from initial focus groups used by the project rather than another online aggregation service. This is a matter of convenience, which according to Oberhof has seen the service being taken up by older clients beyond the initial younger reader target group.

Returning to a more traditional model of home delivery in addition to launching a print product in the middle of an industry crisis could be considered brave or foolish - but Oberhof says this is an essential part of Niuu's offering.

"We've got to target the reader. It's also a point of convenience if you get your newspaper in the early hours, especially in Germany, but this is a part of the model that depends on each country. This project might not work in other countries but in Germany this [home delivery] is very important," he says.

The service currently offers sources in a variety of languages and Oberhof says magazine content is a likely future addition.

Niuu's first aim is to have 5,000 subscribers within 6 months. This is just the first iteration of Niuu, which printed 1,000 copies last week, but the duo already have ambitions to expand the business to different German cities and other countries.

A print product, home delivered, relying on subscriptions and advertising to fund it, with aims for international expansion - but can Niuu's founders learn from the struggles more established publishers have recently encountered in these areas?

By outsourcing different parts of the newspaper production process - including printing and delivery - Oberhof thinks so. This set-up enabled the founders to move from concept to launching Niuu within two years, he adds.

"We haven't got the know-how of all those parts," he says.

"It's very hard in two years to build up a complete publishing house, so we're only marketing guys bringing together all those different partners."

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