Architonic acquires Designboom

Following ArchDaily in 2020, Architonic, a digital platform dedicated to the world of products and materials for designers, has announced another expansion deal to acquire online architecture and design magazine Designboom. Founded in 1999 by designers and art directors Birgit Lohmann and Massimo Mini, it is one of the industry's most popular online media, with an audience of 70% of architects and designers from Europe, North America and Asia. DAAily Platforms is the result of the merger of the three platforms, part of the NZZ Media Group, with a common goal: to strengthen the identity of the world of architecture and design as tools for building a better future. We met with CEO Stephan Bachmann to find out all the details and opportunities generated by this operation.  

After ArchDaily in 2020, it is the turn of Designboom, one of the most important online magazines in the furniture and design sector. How did this acquisition by Architonic come about?

It’s been our strategy for a number of years now to become the global leader in quality content for the A&D community, covering projects, products, news and trends. ArchDaily joining forces with Architonic allowed us to deliver – in addition to our premium product library – super-curated and inspiring information on the latest architecture from around the world to an even greater audience, and has given us the opportunity to cross-leverage our expertise. Acquiring Milan-based Designboom – the world’s first online magazine, which has pioneered in its coverage of contemporary architecture and design culture and future visions – means that our new group, called DAAily platforms, is now the world’s ultimate destination for creative professionals and design lovers.

DAAily platforms aims at creating an ever-expanding global community. What is the common thread that links the three platforms?

With 3.7 billion page views annually and 21 million social-media followers, we now form the largest online A&D community globally and plan to grow this even further, driven by our core passion for creating real and meaningful value for our users – and for our clients. Designboom, Architonic and ArchDaily – while separate channels and distinct brands – share three key values: curation, inspiration and relevance. We never lose sight of these or take our community for granted. They make us who we are: three platforms with a common mission to empower everyone in architecture and design to create a better quality of life.

What are the opportunities that this operation offers?
For DAAily platforms’ users, there will be more opportunity for the discovery of valuable, richly informative and thought-provoking content across our total ecosystem, providing both a more rewarding experience and a more effective use of their work time. For our clients, meanwhile, our combined traffic of over 270 million visits annually means our ability to offer them phenomenal brand visibility. What’s more, we’re developing excellent business-generating opportunities via the coordination and cross-leveraging of our channel-specific products, services and expertise. And last, but not least, we’re looking at how to connect our community with each other in the most optimal way.

And what are the strategies that you will put in place in the coming months? Which communication tools will you focus on to inform and inspire?
We will continue to intensify our multi-channel strategy, looking, in turn, at each specific channel – be it old-school or trendy – to identify how we can optimise its usage. In particular, we believe there are dynamic developments taking place around video communication and see this as an exciting challenge for the future.

Speaking of digital, recently there has been a lot of talk about NFT, Metaverso, blockchain also in the architecture and design sector. What do you think are the possible scenario?

Web 3.0 is going to be the next big thing. Within this context, we firmly believe that our role of providing orientation will become even more important. We are planning to expand our activities, and are committed to listening to our partners about how we can all benefit from these exciting new opportunities – which, combined with DAAily platforms’ global reach and its dedicated A&D community, provide the perfect foundation for the next digital era.