36 | Magazine World | December 2007 fipp.com
member profile
Color Press Group
COLOR PRESS ROLLS
OUT ACROSS FORMER
YUGOSLAVIA
From a Serbian student rag to Southeast Europe’s largest
producer, CPG has taken its colourful brand of publishing to
the 24 million people of the former Yugoslavia
C
olor Press Group (CPG), the largest
magazine publisher in Southeast
Europe, began in January 1992 as an
opposition student monthly called Index.
The publication was launched during the short
truce in Yugoslavia – after the war in Croatia
and before the beginning of the war in Bosnia.
At that time, inflation started to spiral out of
control and by the end of the following year, the
magazine Svet (which originated from Index) cost
500.000.000.000 dinars! Today the magazine
costs a more modest 39 dinars (€0.50).
Later in the nineties – a decade which
witnessed war, raging inflation and constant
political conflict for Serbia – Svet changed its
concept from political publication to celebrity
magazine and started to publish paparazzi photos.
In some respects, the turbulent nineties
gave CPG an advantage, admits Robert Coban,
president. “The very fact that transition in
Serbia started 10 years later than most other
East European countries (in 2000 after the
fall of Milosevic) meant that CPG has kept its
independence.” The majority of national publishing
houses in other Eastern European countries were
bought up by international corporations but that
was not the case in the late-blooming Serbia.
This is also one reason why Serbia is the only
Eastern European country in which a locally owned
national publisher is the magazine market leader, seven regional editions in the former Yugoslav is an excellent foundation for the development
says Coban. republics, together with a special edition for of a profitable media company.’’
But CPG is not averse to following the people from the region who live and work In addition, CPG, together with several leading
international trend for global brands. Building in Western Europe. The total number of Svet Serbian companies (Delta Holding, Carlsberg
on its original Serbian editions (Svet, Lepota i regional edition copies is 250,000. brewery, marketing agency Comunis, and the
zdravlje, Moja beba, Teen Story, etc), CPG started Early expansion in the regional markets is country’s only landline operator Telekom),
to publish licensed magazines in 2002. The considered a key element of the company’s established ABC Serbia, which is licensed by
first licences were from Heinrich Bauer Verlag success. Coban explains: “An important ABC International and is the first audit house for
Hamburg for Bravo and Bravo Girl, and then JOY factor in our success is that we were the first press media in Serbia.
and CKM from Marquard Media in Switzerland. publishing house in the ex-Yugoslavia region to According to ABC Serbia data, CPG’s weekly
Today, CPG owns companies across all of the publish its editions in other republics after the publication Svet has the biggest circulation in
former Yugoslavia (Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, war of 1991-1999. The Serbian market only has the former Yugoslavia region and its biweekly
Slovenia, Bosnia, Herzegovina and Macedonia) six million people, and the former Yugoslavia title Bravo also boasts the biggest circulation in
and publishes 86 magazines in that region. region in total boasts 24 million people who the region. Furthermore, according to research
The company’s flagship tabloid Svet has talk the same or a similar language. This in itself published in May by Strategic Marketing, CPG
pp36-37 Member_v1r.indd Sec1:36 20/11/07 12:22:05
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53