The winners of the sector award "Specialist Medium of the Year 2015" have been announced: MM MaschinenMarkt was awarded the title of Best Specialist Journal over 2.5 mln. at the German Specialist Press Congress in Frankfurt on 20 May 2015. The specialist jury particularly emphasized the relaunch of this specialist medium with its convincing innovational energy, visual appeal and journalistic quality. A further factor in the decision was the MM Index, placed on each title page as a confidence barometer for the sector.



In 2015, publishers could enter for "Specialist Medium of their Year" in 11 subject categories: "Best Specialist Journal up to/over 2.5 mn. circulation", "Best App", "Best E-Paper", "Best Website", "Best Integrated Brand Leadership", "Best Workflow Solution", "Best Social Media Presence", "Best Award", "Best Communication Solution" and "Best New Start". In a multi-step process, a specialist jury evaluated the entries and selected the winner in each category.



MM MaschinenMarkt convinced the jury in the category "Best Specialist Journal over 2.5 mln.": "In the 121st year of its existence, the specialist Journal 'MM MaschinenMarkt' relaunched successfully, showing that tradition is no hindrance for innovational energy and a bold approach to the future. With a modern visual design, this focused all-rounder also scored points on the journalistic front. It provides the accustomed overview with orientational aids, but is also taking up key topics more intensively and providing in-depth content. This, combined with the impressive online presentation, guarantees its wide reach in the target group," as the jury commented on its decision: "The new MM Index, developed together with the ifo-Institut, is in a sense the new ECG of the sector, is imaginative specialist media content, and will in future have a prominent place on each title page. Ambitious!"



"I am very glad that the jury chose us as "Specialist Medium of the Year 2015", stated Frank Jablonski, executive editor-in-chief of MM MaschinenMarkt: "Our editorial approach, and the visual design underlining this, combine with the first generative title page to strike real resonance with our readers!"



"This prize rewards the 16 team members of MM MaschinenMarkt for their great efforts in repositioning and for our courage in going new ways in the specialist medium sector," said a happy Hans-Jürgen Kuntze, publisher of MM MaschinenMarkt.



"MM MaschinenMarkt" appears weekly in Germany with a circulation of 40,392. This industrial magazine provides business news, management information and practice-related technical reporting for decision-makers in production, automation and construction throughout manufacturing industry. MM appears internationally in China, India, Thailand, Turkey, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Ukraine, Austria and Switzerland with a total annual circulation of over 6 mln. The seven topic channels of the specialist portal maschinenmarkt.de address primarily management and specialist staff in the key sectors of manufacturing industry. The parent company, Vogel Business Media, is Germany's largest specialist medium publisher with 100+ specialist journals, 100+ web portals, 100+ business events as well as numerous mobile services and international activities. The head office is in Würzburg. The firm will celebrate its 125th anniversary in 2016.