Hamburg, December 13, 2004
The G+J magazine QUEST was pronounced the "Launch of the Year 2004" in the Netherlands. A panel of 15 judges furnished by the Dutch magazine association NUV selected QUEST as the No.1 among 52 new titles, preferring it to rivals including Hearst´s "Cosmo Girl" or Linda de Mol´s "Linda." On behalf of her 13-person editorial team, QUEST´s editor-in-chief Karlijn van Overbeek accepted the Mercury figurine at a gala event in Aalsmeer.

The judges pointed up QUEST´s unique concept, which has opened up an entirely new type of segment in the Dutch magazine market. They also made special mention of its successful blend of easily understood popular-science topics, fascinating photos and high-quality informational charts. Finally, QUEST received kudos for having become established on the market in a very short time counter to the general expectations – the judges attribute this to the magazine´s empathy with its readers´ interests, as well as the "clever and original" marketing campaign.

QUEST made its debut as a monthly magazine on Dutch newsstands in February 2004, and has since achieved a stable sold circulation of over 100,000 copies. In all, Gruner + Jahr publishes four popular- science magazines in the Netherlands, and leads the market in this segment.

This latest award for QUEST provides the crowning glory to a year that has been highly successful for G+J Netherlands. 2004 saw the launch of NG TRAVELER and NG JUNIOR as well; all of them have shown an exceedingly positive development. G+J began its publishing activity in the Netherlands with the launch of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC in 2000.

Dr. Torsten-Jörn Klein, G+J executive board member in charge of International Magazines, declared: "The Dutch magazine market had an intensely competitive year, with over 50 new launches in 2004. The fact that QUEST was chosen as the No.1 launch proves that outstanding publishing triumphs can be had even with lean structures. Eric Blok and his small team do excellent work in the Netherlands, and we will step up our involvement there next year."

For further information:

Alexander Adler
Spokesman Gruner + Jahr AG & Co KG
Am Baumwall 11
D-20459 Hamburg
Phone: +49.40.3703-2244
Fax: +49.40.3703-5688
E-Mail: adler.alexander@guj.de