Press Release | Gütersloh, 05/08/2015

Bertelsmann Presents Strategic Progress Update across Multiple Media

New Annual Report now available online, in print, and as an app

The new Annual Report of Bertelsmann is now available online, in print and as an app. In the publication, the international media, services, and education company illustrates the strategic progress it made in 2014 in the form of informative stories and expressive graphics. It contains, for example, detailed reports on the state of integration of the world’s largest trade book publishing group Penguin Random House, the RTL Group Technology Platform SpotXchange, and the online education service provider Relias Learning, which Bertelsmann acquired last year.

Karin Schlautmann, Head of Bertelsmann Corporate Communications, said: “Bertelsmann is on its way to be becoming a faster growing, more digital and more international company. We achieved impressive strategic gains on this path last year – and our latest Annual Report showcases them in an informative, appealing way. To make Bertelsmann’s creative diversity accessible to the widest possible public, we present the contents on a wide range of different channels – in print, as an interactive online report, as an app, and – for the first time – in the form of a unique multimedia exhibit. In doing so, we allow people to experience our company in many ways.”

The Annual Report serves up a number of compelling and surprising stories, accompanied by facts, figures, illustrative pictures and graphics, and a transparent financial section. Readers learn, for example, that with 700 million books sold per year, the trade publishing group Penguin Random House is the “World Champion of Books,” or that Bertelsmann reaches more than 500 million people a day with its products and services. The highlights of the 2014 financial year are presented in an elaborately produced video clip that can be found both in the app and in the online report. The online report contains all contents of the print version, plus a variety of extras and lots of links.

The online version can be accessed via the following link: http://ar2014.bertelsmann.com 

The Annual Report app for smartphones and tablets is now available for free in German and English through the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store.

This year’s report motto, “Building A New Bertelsmann” is also given expression in an eight-foot wooden exhibit in the shape of the letter “B”: Its six screens and five computers, audio stations as well as integrated tablets and bookshelves provide a fun, modern and entertaining range of information. The big “B” is to be exhibited at sites across the Group and at events.

About Bertelsmann
Bertelsmann is a media, services and education company that operates in about 50 countries around the world. It includes the broadcaster RTL Group, the trade book publisher Penguin Random House, the magazine publisher Gruner + Jahr, the service providers Arvato and Be Printers, the music rights company BMG and the e-learning provider Relias Learning. The company has more than 112,000 employees and generated revenues of €16.7 billion in financial year 2014. Bertelsmann stands for creativity and entrepreneurship. This combination promotes the creation of first-class media content and innovative service solutions that inspire customers around the world.