Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia / Zaandam, The Netherlands - A new weekly newspaper launched in Hong Kong. HK01 is a truly multichannel project and is available in both print and on the web, as well as on tablets, smartphones and in social media. The title is accompanied by a monthly and two weekly magazines. All content is produced in a highly efficient workflow based on WoodWing’s multichannel publishing system Enterprise and the digital asset management solution WoodWing Elvis DAM. Both applications are deployed in a virtual private cloud environment based on Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Hong Kong based Newspaper Startup HK01 utilizes WoodWing´s solutions to create, manage and publish its content in print and online, on tablets, for mobile as well as for social media.

Published by the media holding WeMedia01 (HK) Limited, HK01 is a smart offer of daily, weekly and monthly content in digital and print formats. The four sections of the printed weekly newspaper offer articles about local and global developments in politics, business and finance, and engages readers with aspirational content in fashion, beauty, travel, culture, technology and more. It also includes feature stories about people from all walks of life. The initial print run is 100,000 copies.

HK01’s wide range of digital offerings presents up-to-the minute news, long-tail stories, insights and analysis of issues from local to around the globe. The accredited editorial team aims to provide the community with trusted news, analysis, data and tools. The web site, launched on January 11, 2016, targeted 300,000 page views in February. The Facebook page, started on December 28, 2015, has already attracted more than 112,000 fans. HK01 is also available on tablets and smartphones.

The newspaper is accompanied by two weekly magazines. “Being Global” features stories and powerful photography with coverage on global news and business, as well as culture, innovation and sports. The other weekly magazine, “Being HK”, offers features from local community to address society issues on everyday living with focus on preserving and protecting our living space. The monthly ladies magazine “Being Ms” covers everything from styling to well-being, providing insights for women from women.

A flexible solution and dedicated partners were key requirements of the project
“HK01’s high-quality content across multiple platforms enables us to highly engage with our audiences on a daily basis,” said Lung King Cheong, Editor in Chief at HK01. “This goal led to high requirements for the production environment. We needed a flexible solution and dedicated partners to build the entire newsroom from scratch. WoodWing and its partners were on board from the very beginning and helped us substantially in maintaining our tight schedule.”

The content for all channels are created from within WoodWing’s multichannel publishing system Enterprise and its editorial management solution Content Station. The assets are managed and deployed via WoodWing´s DAM solution Elvis, and published editions are automatically archived for later repurposing.

Special Milestone for WoodWing
“We congratulate WeMedia on the successful launch of this ambitious project,” said Roel-Jan Mouw, CEO of WoodWing Software. “The launch represents a special milestone for WoodWing. HK01 is the first newspaper customer in Hong Kong China, and the first customer worldwide that runs a truly multichannel newsroom based on Enterprise and Elvis DAM in an AWS environment.”

WoodWing’s Digital Services division, based in Kuala Lumpur, provided comprehensive consulting. In addition, two WoodWing partners were involved in the project: Serioustec of Kuala Lumpur and GrandTech of Hong Kong.

The Advantages of a Private Cloud Environment
“HK01 represents the state of the art in modern publishing technology,” said Bruce Persaud, managing director of Serioustec. “WoodWing’s solutions are the most innovative on the market, and the private cloud approach on AWS offers enormous advantages in terms of cost efficiency, scalability, availability and flexibility.” All reporters, editors and designers are connected from their desktops or mobile devices to WoodWing´s applications on AWS. 

From Go to Launch in Six Months
“WeMedia has an innovative multimedia concept for the content management and production workflows HK01 benefits from,” said Lok Wai Keung, technical director at GrandTech. “We are glad to have been involved in that project from a very early stage all the way to the successful launch of HK01 in print, web and social media, as well as on tablets and mobile — all created within just six months.”