What PR-Journal does

PR-Journal (PR-Journal Medien GmbH) is a German B2B media platform and online news portal serving the public relations and communications industry, founded in 2004 by Gerhard Pfeffer and headquartered in Düsseldorf. The company operates the pr-journal.de website as its core publishing surface, delivering daily editorial coverage organized into personnel changes (Personalien), account wins (Etats), industry developments (Branche), interviews, commentary, and a service section covering training, studies, and industry awards. The platform is supplemented by a podcast distributed via Alexa and major podcast services since 2017, and by an editorial newsletter sent approximately 40 times per year to nearly 7,000 subscribers via CleverReach.

The company extends its media proposition through a set of adjacent product modules: the PRJ-Jobbörse (jobs.pr-journal.de), a dedicated job board for communications professionals; the PRJ-Datenbank (datenbanken.pr-journal.de), which provides PR agency finder tools and rankings; the PRJ-Rankings including the annual Pfeffer-Ranking of German PR agency fee revenues, co-published with GPRA; and PRJ-Widgets, embeddable RSS-based news tickers syndicated to third-party websites. Distribution spans LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and Facebook, alongside on-site coverage of industry events such as Cannes Lions. The primary audience comprises communication professionals across all career levels working in PR agencies, in-house corporate communications departments, associations, authorities, and branch service providers in the DACH region.

Monetization is advertising-led, with multiple pricing tiers: website banner advertising (600-2,100 EUR monthly), newsletter advertising packages (2,400-21,600 EUR), special partner newsletters (1,980 EUR per edition), advertorials (990 EUR), podcast sponsorship (275-450 EUR per episode), job listings, database access, and bundled corporate packages for employer branding, new business, and opinion leadership (2,792-4,440 EUR). The company is privately held, founder-owned, and operates with a small team of approximately 8 people led by Managing Director Nicolas Kunkel and Editor-in-Chief Annett Bergk.

Name

PR-Journal

Legal name

PR-Journal Medien GmbH

Website

https://pr-journal.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

PR-Journal is a German B2B media platform founded in 2004 that provides daily editorial coverage, a job board, agency databases, industry rankings, a podcast, and a newsletter to PR and communications professionals across the DACH region.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

B2B Trade Media – PR & Communications

NAICS

Periodical Publishers (51312)

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

Newsletters & Email-Based News Publishers (B2B/B2C) (MPAJADAJ)

Keywords

• PR industry news
• Communications trade media
• PR job board
• PR agency rankings
• B2B media services

Headquarters

HQ city

Düsseldorf

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Banner Advertising: Various banner advertising placements on the website including Superbanner, Content Position, Skyscraper formats with monthly pricing ranging from 600-2,100 EUR.
2. Newsletter Advertising: Newsletter advertising in the weekly editorial newsletter with pricing tiers: Starter (4 weeks) at 2,400 EUR, Pro (12 weeks) at 6,500 EUR, Pro+ (1 year) at 21,600 EUR.
3. Special Newsletters: Special newsletters created with partners sent to approximately 6,000 recipients, priced at 1,980 EUR per edition with volume discounts.
4. Advertorials: Sponsored editorial content placed in appropriate categories with images, videos, and links, priced at 990 EUR.
5. Podcast Sponsorship: Podcast sponsorship with tiered pricing: 450 EUR per episode (3 bookings), 380 EUR (6 bookings), 275 EUR (12 bookings). Special content blocks at 1,000 EUR.
6. Job Listings: Job posting service on the PRJ Job Board at jobs.pr-journal.de with separate pricing.
7. Corporate Packages: Bundled packages including Employer Branding (2,792 EUR), New Business (3,320 EUR), and Opinion Leader packages (4,440 EUR) with autumn discounts.
8. Database Services: Access to PR databases, rankings, and agency finder tools.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

PR-Journal operates Germany's leading independent B2B media platform for the public-relations and communications industry. The core product is the pr-journal.de daily news portal covering personnel changes, account wins (Etats), industry trends, studies, and awards, complemented by the PRJ-Jobbörse job board, the PRJ-Datenbank agency finder, the annual PRJ-Pfeffer-Ranking of agency fee revenues, a weekly newsletter sent to ~7,000 subscribers, special partner newsletters, embeddable RSS widgets, and a monthly podcast.

Product overview

PR-Journal is a comprehensive online news portal and information platform for the German public relations and communications industry. The core offering is the PR-Journal Website delivering daily industry news coverage. This is supported by complementary modules including the PRJ-Jobbörse (job board for PR professionals), PRJ-Datenbank (agency database with finder functionality), PRJ-Rankings (industry rankings including the Pfeffer-Ranking), and PRJ-Widgets (embeddable news ticker widgets). The platform also offers a weekly newsletter and special newsletters as additional communication channels for its audience of communications professionals.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• PR-Journal Website (pr-journal.de) Daily news portal covering personnel changes (Personalien), account wins (Etats), industry trends (Branche), young talent, interviews & debates, comments & columns, studies, awards, and seminar listings for German PR and communications professionals.
• PRJ-Jobbörse (Job Board) Dedicated job board at jobs.pr-journal.de allowing PR and communications employers to post vacancies and job seekers across agencies, companies, organizations, associations, and authorities to browse opportunities.
• PRJ-Datenbank (PR Agency Database & Finder) Database at datenbanken.pr-journal.de featuring PR agency listings, an agency finder with map view, and other industry directories for the German PR profession.
• PRJ-Rankings (incl. Pfeffer-Ranking) Industry ranking services tracking PR agency fee revenues and market developments in Germany, headlined by the annual Pfeffer-Ranking co-published with GPRA.
• PR-Journal Newsletter (Weekly Editorial) Weekly editorial newsletter summarising the latest German PR industry news for nearly 7,000 communication professionals, plus special topic newsletters created with partners and reaching approximately 6,000 recipients per edition.
• PR-Journal Podcast Monthly podcast for PR and communications professionals featuring interviews and industry commentary, distributed via standard podcast platforms and Amazon Alexa voice assistant.
• PRJ-Widgets Embeddable RSS-based ticker widgets enabling third-party websites to display the latest news feeds from the PR-Journal homepage and job exchange.
• Website Banner Advertising Display advertising placements on pr-journal.de in Superbanner, Content Position, Skyscraper, and Pop-Up Layer formats with monthly subscription pricing.
• Newsletter Advertising Packages Advertising placements inside the weekly editorial newsletter with tiered packages: Starter (4 weeks), Pro (12 weeks), and Pro+ (1 year) for reaching nearly 7,000 subscribers.
• Special Partner Newsletter Editions Bespoke co-branded newsletter editions built with partners and sent to approximately 6,000 recipients covering specific industry themes, with volume discounts and design services available.
• Advertorials (Sponsored Editorial) Sponsored editorial content placed in appropriate pr-journal.de categories, including images, videos, and links, distributed via the editorial newsletter as well.
• Podcast Sponsorship Sponsorship of the PR-Journal Podcast with tiered per-episode pricing based on booking volume and optional custom content blocks.
• Corporate Packages (Employer Branding / New Business / Opinion Leader) Bundled advertising packages combining website, newsletter, advertorial, and database elements for Employer Branding, New Business generation, and Opinion Leader positioning, available with autumn discounts.

Quantifiable outcome

• Nearly 7,000 newsletter subscribers receiving weekly editorial content
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• CleverReachcoreTechnology or IntegrationCleverReach GmbH & Co. KG provides newsletter distribution and analytics services for PR-Journal's email marketing operations. The partnership enables tracking of newsletter open rates, click-through analytics, and conversion tracking. PR-Journal has a data processing agreement with CleverReach compliant with German data protection standards.
• GPRA (Gesellschaft Public Relations Agenturen)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGPRA, the Association of Public Relations Agencies, co-publishes the PRJ-Pfeffer-Ranking with PR-Journal. The ranking tracks fee revenues of PR agencies in Germany. GPRA provides future content and conceptual support for the ranking, making it the most authoritative industry benchmark.
• WeischerminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWeischer.Media serves as the official German representative for Cannes Lions, having held this position for 30 years. PR-Journal provides editorial coverage of Cannes Lions activities in partnership with Weischer's events and networking formats.
• DAPR (Deutsche Akademie für Public Relations)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDAPR, the German Academy for Public Relations, organized the first KI.KOMM conference in June 2026 at Düsseldorf Airport, which PR-Journal covered editorially. The partnership provides educational content for the PR professional community.
• dpa (Deutsche Presse-Agentur)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPR-Journal reports on dpa initiatives including the NewZ Club program engaging young audiences, as part of industry coverage.
• ECCHR (European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorECCHR utilizes PR-Journal's job board to advertise communication volunteer positions, demonstrating the platform's reach across diverse organizations including non-profits.
• DRPR (Deutscher Rat für Public Relations)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPR-Journal covers activities of the German Council for Public Relations, including ethics discussions and industry recognition announcements such as the appointment of Günter Bentele as honorary chairman.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Werben & Verkaufen (W&V): Germany's leading marketing and advertising magazine with online presence, newsletters, and event coverage. Same business model as PR-Journal — vertical B2B media for marketing professionals — with a slightly broader scope covering advertising rather than PR specifically.
• kress pro: German trade publication for the communications and media industry covering personnel, agencies, and industry developments. Closely comparable to PR-Journal in editorial focus (German communications professionals), audience, and product mix including newsletters and a job board.
• HORIZONT: Germany's leading trade publication for marketing, media, and advertising, operating as a B2B news portal with daily updates, newsletters, and rankings. Directly comparable to PR-Journal as a vertical B2B media outlet serving a specific professional industry segment in the German-speaking market.
• PRovoke Media: Global PR industry news, intelligence, and research platform (formerly The Holmes Report). Directly comparable to PR-Journal in covering PR agency news, rankings, and industry analysis, with a stronger international and research focus.
• PRWeek: Global PR industry news publication covering agency news, accounts, personnel changes, and rankings. Operates the same editorial model as PR-Journal (personnel, accounts, industry news) but at global scale and in English, making it the international equivalent of PR-Journal's German-focused coverage.
• O'Dwyer's: Long-established US-based PR industry news publication covering agency rankings, personnel, and public relations news. Same editorial model as PR-Journal serving a national PR professional audience, with a particular strength in agency rankings similar to PR-Journal's Pfeffer-Ranking.

Emerging players

• PR-Gateway: German press distribution and PR news platform for SMEs. Comparable to PR-Journal as a PR-focused digital platform in the German-speaking market, but operates as a press-distribution tool rather than an editorial/news outlet, representing an adjacent rather than directly competing offering.

Broad incumbents

• Campaign: Global marketing, advertising, and media industry publication with newsletters, events, and awards. Broader in scope than PR-Journal (covering advertising, media, and marketing rather than PR specifically) but operates the same B2B trade media business model for an adjacent professional audience.
• Adweek: Major US advertising and marketing trade publication with newsletters, podcasts, and events. Comparable to PR-Journal as a B2B media platform for industry professionals, but focused on advertising rather than PR and operating at much larger scale.

Others

• BVDW (Bundesverband Digitale Wirtschaft): German industry association for the digital economy that publishes news, research, and runs events. Comparable to PR-Journal's relationship with GPRA as an industry body, but functions as a membership association rather than a media outlet; relevant as an ecosystem peer.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/prjournal
• Facebookfacebook.com/prjournal
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/pr-journal
• Instagraminstagram.com/prj.journal

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about PR-Journal