Incongruities as a Source of Ideas: The Case of Metro Express

An ever decreasing number of people read a newspaper every day, and they spend ever less time doing so. In the region of 35% of all young people never even start reading a daily newspaper: their need for news is covered by television, the Internet and radio. Meanwhile, the core readership of the broadsheet papers at the other end of the age spectrum, are dying. Consequently, for years, newspaper publishers in the USA and most of Europe have endeavored to do something about the decline in circulation figures. One of the results of this development has been the demise of many newspapers, destructive price wars, absurd pricing models to recruit new readers and subscribers, over-focusing on advertising and markets, package deals and distorting cartel formation. More…