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Jonas Bonnier
CEO, Bonnier
Bonnier AB
Kungsgatan 49
ckholm
SE-113 90 Sto
6 8 736 40 00
+4
.com
info@bonnier
bonnier.com
Sweden
Editor: Niklas Sessler
Text: Niklas Sessler, Ganda Suthivarakom
Graphic Design: Sofia Ekvall
Cover photo: Niklas Palmklint
Photos: Niklas Palmklint, Jann Lipka,
Mikael Olsson, Jesse Marlow, Andras Kralla,
Tatyana Zubkova, Mats Kullander,
Heikki Saukkomaa / Lehtikuva / Scanpix,
Sarah Amato, Magnus Skoglöf,
Peter von Felbert, Pekka Mustonen,
Antonina Baygusheva.
3
Film & Theaters, page 24
Magazines, page 14
We publish approximately 150 titles in the Nordic region,
the Netherlands, Russia and the U.S. An American science publication is reincarnated as Illustreret Videnskab, flourishes in Europe and makes a triumphant return to the
U.S. twenty years later.
Svensk Filmindustri (SF) is one of the oldest and most respected film companies in the world, and SF Bio is one
of the most modern cinema chains in Europe. Welcome to Bergakungen – a spectacular palace of entertainment
with VIP lounges, restaurants, gigantic screens and a
world-class audio system.
Books, page 10
Bonnier is the leading publishing group in the Nordic
region and one of the leaders in Germany. One unlikely
pilgrim’s travelogue becomes Germany’s bestselling nonfiction book in 60 years.
Digital Media, page 28
No other media company can boast the digital product
diversity and commitment to innovation that Bonnier can.
From daily news to e-commerce to mobile, Bonnier’s reach in digital media goes deep and wide. See how
Parenting.com helps U.S. moms show off their beautiful
babies to the whole world.
The Bonnier World
4
Television, page 6
We operate the largest, most popular commercial TV
channels in both Sweden and Finland – TV4 and MTV3,
respectively – as well as C More, the Nordic region’s
leading premium TV broadcaster. Follow the search for a
superstar on Finnish Idols, with a concept that gives viewers the chance to watch the show anytime, anywhere.
Newspapers, page 18
We publish daily newspapers, mostly business dailies, and conduct online business in eleven countries. Meet the man who made the financial crisis understandable in Sweden. Also, hear how a newspaper launch in the
Russian town of Krasnodar becomes an adventure in
teaching freedom of speech.
To continuously reinvent
the art of publishing
Our vision is for Bonnier to become a leading media
greenhouse full of new ideas, a place where the art of
publishing will constantly be challenged and reinvented.
By operating in all media channels, we believe we have a
unique opportunity to enable new publishing ideas and
create new forums where authors, storytellers, journalists and their audiences can meet.
Books
Digital Media
Film & Theaters
Magazines
Newspapers
Television
5
*
6
* A control room at TV4 in Stockholm. Flexibility is key to TV4’s news studio. The background,
graphics and furniture can easily be changed.
Television
Millions of people invite us into their homes
each day when they turn on their televisions.
We know that TV can be more than just a
diversion – it should be a shared experience, an educational resource and a cultural
touchstone.
We operate the largest, most popular commercial TV channels in both Sweden and
Finland – TV4 and MTV3, respectively – as
well as C More, the Nordic region’s leading
premium TV broadcaster. We are the largest
news provider in Sweden and Finland.
Our news channels’ current affairs teams
deliver up-to-the-minute news from around
the world to television screens, computers and
mobile phones. The current affairs programs
Kalla fakta in Sweden and 45 minuuttia in
Finland tackle social issues and contribute to
the daily debate.
We broadcast the world’s top sporting events
and entertainment shows. Our channels
adapt domestic versions of major international formats such as Who Wants to Be a
Millionaire and Idol. We also create local and
original successes, like Sub’s hit travel series
Madventures and TV4’s home redecorating
show Äntligen hemma. We bring viewers the
stories they want to tune into – 24 hours a day,
seven days a week.
Since 1997
Minutes spent watching TV per day (Sweden)
MTV Media in Finland operates nine TV
channels: the nation’s favorite channel, MTV3,
the rapidly growing Sub channel, and pay-TV
channels MTV3 MAX, MTV3 Fakta, Sub Leffa,
Sub Juniori, MTV3 AVA, MTV3 Sarja and
MTV3 Scifi. Mtv3.fi, one of Finland’s most
popular web destinations, and Radio Nova,
Finland’s most listened-to commercial radio
station, are also part of MTV Media.
170
165
160
155
150
145
140
135
TV4 is Sweden’s largest TV channel. The TV4
Group’s portfolio also includes TV4 Plus, TV4
Film, TV400, TV4 Fakta, TV4 Guld, TV4 Komedi, TV4 Sport, TV4 Science Fiction and the
web-based Nyhetskanalen, as well as 24 local
TV stations. TV4 is available in high-definition.
In 2008, the TV4 Group acquired C More
Entertainment / Canal+, the Nordic region’s
leading premium pay-per-view company. Its
program portfolio contains blockbuster films,
series and sports on 14 channels.
2005
2006
All, 3–99 years old
2007
2008
Men, 3–99 years old
Women, 3–99 years old
Source: MMS.se
More than 6.2 million Swedes watch at
least 15 minutes of any of TV4 Group’s
channels per day, on average.
MTV in Finland was established on April
29, 1957, making it the third-oldest commercial TV company in Europe after the
U.K.’s ITV and Germany’s RTL.
7
Television
Searching for a Superstar
MTV3’s Idols has broken all TV records in Finland with help from the extremely popular 360° concept,
which gives viewers the chance to follow Idols anytime, anywhere.
When 24-year-old Koop Arponen performed his winning song, Creedence
Clearwater Revival’s classic hit Have You
Ever Seen the Rain, the crowd of 6,500 at
Helsinki Ice Hall erupted in wild celebration. Arponen, who is half-Finnish, halfDutch and has spent the majority of his life
in England, pulled off a resounding win on
Idols (Finland’s American Idol), with over
70 percent of all votes.
But the win for MTV3 was just as big. Approximately two million viewers watched the
program every week, while four million saw
at least one episode – all this in a country
with a population just over five million. Of
autumn 2008’s list of Finland’s 25 mostviewed programs among 25- to 54-year-olds,
19 were episodes of Idols.
“This is the fourth season of Idols,” says
the show’s producer, Hanna Myller. “We
broadcast two episodes a week on our main
channel, MTV3, plus extra material (followup discussions, backstage clips and so on) on
our secondary channel, Sub. So viewers have
been able to follow Idols on two TV channels
as well as on the web and on our radio channel, Radio Nova. We call this 360° thinking,
where the show can be seen across many
different media platforms.”
Up to ten Idols news items were posted
online every day. The news was composed
primarily of interviews with Idols hopefuls, along with a host of material related to
Finnish Idols. Meanwhile, web journalists
took photographs for the site’s image gallery
and filmed backstage with handheld video
cameras.
Fans devoured the bonus content. The Idols
site had an average of 159,000 weekly unique
visitors, with that number reaching over
200,000 during the peak of the season. Of
those visitors, most were between the ages of
15 and 19, and 86% were female.
The ‘Miss Backstage’ blog, written by the
web team, also chronicled the idols’ every
8
move. Live chats allowed fans to talk to their
favorite contestants while watching them
live via webcam, and minute-by-minute
backstage reports were updated live during
each episode. Idols has become a TV show
that is much more than just a TV show.
“This year we teamed up with the Finnish
National Opera,” says Hanna. “The conductor was on the jury during one performance,
one of the semifinals was broadcast from the
opera house, and contestants received voice
lessons from professional opera singers. We
have also collaborated with Sweden’s TV4.
Among other things, we shared ideas and
experiences we’d had with the format, and
had Andreas Carlsson from the Swedish jury
as a guest on our show. We were there for the
Swedish final in December and broadcast
excerpts from the show in Finland.”
Many of the Idols artists have become
commercially successful following their appearance on the show. Three of last season’s
Finnish finalists released albums during
the year, and all of them have reached the
number one spot in the Finnish charts.
“Idols has something for everyone,” says
Hanna. “It’s a combination of reality show
and live performance that makes for unbeatable entertainment.”
And as for Koop Arponen – who was recently
voted Young European of the Year by the
Heinz-Schwarzkopf Foundation under the
auspices of the European Parliament – the
adventure has only just begun.
“The combination
of reality show and
live performance
makes for unbeatable entertainment.”
Hanna Myller
Facts / Idol in Sweden and Finland
Swedish Idol is broadcast by TV4 with a 360°
strategy, similar to the Finnish version.
Each episode of Swedish Idol was viewed by
an average of 1.1 million viewers in 2008; 1.6
million watched the finale. Episodes of Finnish Idols had an average of 1 million viewers;
1.2 million, or nearly one in four Finns, saw
the finale.
The Swedish Idol Web site attracted an average of 280,000 unique visitors per week;
Finland’s had 159,000 uniques per week.
A total of 26 million clips were streamed from
the Swedish Idol site.
The Swedish Idol finale at the Ericsson Globe
in Stockholm had the largest live audience
in the world, with 13,000 fans in attendance.
The Finnish finale at Helsinki Ice Hall attracted 6,500 people.
Koop Arponen, winner of Finnish Idols 2008, performing at the Idols finale at Helsinki Ice Hall on December 14, 2008.
That night, he won more than 70 percent of the votes.
9
*
10
* Each year, Bonnier sells more than 100 million books, making us the leading publishing group
in the Nordic region and one of the leaders in Germany.
Books
Since 1804
After more than 200 years in book publishing,
we know that giving readers the best quality
literature is a business idea that never goes out
of style. Over the last two centuries, we have
produced a wealth of books, including children’s titles, poetry collections and bestsellers. These stories are now spread around the
world in print, as audio books and as e-books.
Our international publishing business
started with Albert Bonniers Förlag, founded
in 1837. When Albert’s son Karl Otto Bonnier
took over, it became Sweden’s leading publishing house, home to many of the country’s
best-known authors including August Strindberg and Nobel laureates Selma Lagerlöf and
Verner von Heidenstam. Throughout our
history, we have debuted and nurtured the
careers of many of Sweden’s most beloved
writers.
The keen instincts of savvy editors have always
been key to our success in the book world. And
the tradition continues. Bonnier’s German
publishing house Carlsen Verlag inked a
deal for the rights to the Harry Potter series
before it became a world hit. In 2009, Carlsen
succeeded in topping both the paperback and
hardcover bestseller lists with Twilight and
New Moon from Stephenie Meyers’ teen vampire series, selling more than 4 million copies
in Germany alone.
New titles published
Sweden’s largest publishing group. It is comprised of Albert Bonniers Förlag, Wahlström
& Widstrand, Forum and more, as well as
AdLibris (the largest online book store in the
Nordic countries) and several book clubs.
Norway’s leading publishing group publishes
adult and children’s fiction, nonfiction, educational, and academic literature books. It also
includes the bookshop chain Tanum.
5,000
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
0
2002
2003
2004
2005
All new titles
Germany’s leading publishing group of
children’s books, through Carlsen Verlag and
Thienemann Verlag. It also publishes fiction
through Piper and Ullstein.
Comprised of children’s book publishers Templar and Autumn in the U.K., Weldon Owen
in the U.S. and Australia, Five Mile Press in
Australia and Piccolia in France.
The third largest publishing house and the
leading children’s book publisher in Finland.
Fiction
2006
2007
Audio Books
Nonfiction
Youth books
Source: Svenska Förläggareföreningen, SvF
Bonnier-owned publishing houses
around the world have published 74 Nobel Prize winners in literature. Among
them are Rudyard Kipling, George
Bernard Shaw, Thomas Mann, Eugene
O’Neill, Herman Hesse, T. S. Eliot, Bertrand Russell, Ernest Hemingway,
John Steinbeck, Jean-Paul Sartre, Saul
Bellow, William Golding, Toni Morrison,
J. M. Coetzee and Doris Lessing.
11
Books
The Unexpected
Pilgrim
The publishers had high hopes for Hape Kerkeling’s book. Perhaps his fans would buy 50,000 copies.
But selling over three million copies in German alone – that was something no one had ever dreamt possible.
Hape Kerkeling, a very popular comedian
and TV host in Germany, made a living
making fun of other people. “Even before
the book was released, Hape Kerkeling was
one of the most famous people in Germany,”
explains Bettina Feldweg, editorial director
of Malik, an imprint of Piper Verlag. “Once,
he dressed up as Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and resembled her so closely that he
nearly succeeded in joining an official dinner
with the President of Germany.”
But in 2001, Kerkeling developed several
stress-related physical symptoms. His doctors wanted him to take a timeout. Instead,
Kerkeling decided to embark on a pilgrimage
along the Camino, the classic pilgrim’s trail
to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. According to legend, the apostle Jacob is buried
here, and thousands of spiritual seekers
make this journey each year.
His choice was especially surprising because
Kerkeling isn’t your typical religious pilgrim.
He has described himself as a mixture of
Catholic and Buddhist. He is also an open
homosexual which, he points out, entails
“certain problems with the Pope.”
So why would a self-described “couch potato”
set out on such a spiritual journey? Besides
seeking the deeper meaning of life, the trip
was also meant to be a workout. But it was
never meant to be a media event – he set off
without telling anyone but his closest friends
and relatives. “I just got up off my couch one
day, after finishing a Diet Pepsi and a bag of
chips, and started walking.”
After returning home, he appeared on a TV
talk show where he was asked what he’d done
over the summer. That was the moment when
he first spoke publicly about his pilgrimage.
Bettina Feldweg’s colleague at Malik was
watching.
“The next day, at the coffee machine, my colleague said that she’d seen Hape Kerkeling on
TV the night before, describing his pilgrimage.
I was fascinated by the curious combination
12
of Kerkeling and a pilgrimage and said, ‘That
should be a book.’ And that’s how we ended up
contacting him,” says Bettina.
Kerkeling was immediately interested, and
as luck would have it, had kept a journal during the entire journey. But he refused to show
his original handwritten material to anyone
– it was too personal. Instead, he selectively
dictated to his secretary.
“The Camino really
begins after you’ve
finished it.”
Hape Kerkeling
Ich bin dann mal weg [I’m Off Then] is a
richly personal travel journal, documenting a six-week hike that starts in the French
Pyrenees and ends in Santiago. Kerkeling
describes the people he meets – tourists,
madmen and adventurers – and the historic
locations he passes. Above all, Kerkeling’s
warm self-irony makes his spiritual journey
unlike any other.
The publishing house had originally planned
to release the book in March or April of 2006,
but for a number of reasons it first appeared
at the end of May. The elements were conspiring against them – the early summer was
unusually warm, which always makes it difficult to sell books, and Germany was hosting
the World Cup in soccer. It seemed unlikely
that anyone would care about a book about
a comedian’s semi-religious pilgrimage. But
against all odds, it was a huge success. After
debuting at number 18, Ich bin dann mal
weg rocketed to first place in its second week
on the shelves – a position it would hold for
exactly one hundred weeks.
Once the ball was finally rolling, it was
unstoppable. The book has sold over three
million German-language hardcover copies
to date, making it Germany’s bestselling nonfiction book since the end of World War II.
“There are a number of reasons for its extreme success,” explains Bettina. “The first is
of course Hape Kerkeling himself – his character and popularity. Another was its subject
of spirituality, which was also quite popular
at the time. And finally, it’s an extremely
good, funny book.”
Facts / Ich bin dann mal weg
Has now been printed in 670 editions.
Was released in paperback in April 2009 and
has since sold more than 350,000 paperback
copies.
Was named Book of the Year in 2006, when
Hape Kerkeling was also named Author of the
Year by booksellers in Germany.
Between 2006 and 2007, the book sparked a
71 percent increase in the number of German
pilgrims traveling the Camino – a phenomenon known as the “Kerkeling Effect.”
Has now been translated into eleven languages. I’m Off Then, the first American edition,
was released in 2009 by Simon & Schuster.
Will be followed by a German feature film,
to premiere in 2010. Hape Kerkeling has
declined to play the role himself.
+VS Kerkeling
07.04.2006
10:22 Uhr
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Hape Kerkeling’s spiritual journey to Santiago de Compostela took him through the hillsideMADRID
village of El Acebo, Spain, pictured here. Ich bin dann
mal weg has sold more than three million copies in Germany and has been translated into eleven languages.
13
*
14
* Bonnier publishes approximately 150 magazines in seven countries, with titles for everyone
from the teenage skateboarder to the CEO mom to the distinguished wine connoisseur.
Magazines
Magazines entertain, enrich, inspire and
influence – every week, every month. Our
international roster includes titles for every
taste, from broad subjects such as beauty and
parenting to niche passions like motocross
and sport diving. In many cases, we are the
market leaders.
Bonnier is committed to supporting a broad
portfolio of titles because research shows
that magazines continue to capture consumers’ full attention far better than any other
medium. Our expertise in special-interest
areas attracts readers who are passionately
dedicated to our brands.
Our magazines can be found across the
Nordic region, as well as in the Netherlands,
Russia and the U.S. We also work closely with
licensed and cross-border publications. Our
licensing company, Bonnier International
Magazines, offers licensees both concept
and trusted content from some of our most
popular brands, providing one-stop shopping
for publishers around the world.
We publish approximately 150 titles in seven
countries. In addition to magazines (specialinterest magazines, lifestyle magazines and
trade press), we are also active in digital
media, custom publishing, events and film
production.
Since 1929
Digital revenues increase
One of the largest consumer-publishing
groups in America, with nearly 50 specialinterest magazines and related multimedia
projects and events. Some of the largest circulation titles include Field & Stream, Popular
Science, the TransWorld titles and Parenting.
100,000
Outlook
80,000
60,000
40,000
20,000
A leading media company in the Nordic region
which publishes magazines in Denmark,
Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. Some
of the best-known titles are Illustreret Videnskab (Science Illustrated), health and fitness
magazine I Form, and Bo Bedre, a home and
garden monthly.
The largest consumer magazine publisher
in Sweden with more than 50 titles, many
of them market leaders in their niche. We
publish both special-interest and lifestyle
magazines covering fashion, decoration, cars,
food, parenting, travel and more. Among
the best-known titles are women’s lifestyle
magazine amelia, fashion magazine Damernas
Värld, food magazine Allt om Mat and business weekly Veckans Affärer.
0
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Circulations
Print advertising
Digital advertising
Revenues ($ million) in the consumer magazine market
(Global) Source: PwC, 2008
Popular Science, an American monthly
magazine about science and technology,
published its first issue in 1872, making
it the oldest of Bonnier’s magazines.
Popular Science has won over 58
awards, including National Magazine
Awards for General Excellence in both
2003 and 2004. PopSci.com first came
online in 1999.
15
Magazines
Science for Everyone
An old American science publication is reincarnated as Illustreret Videnskab, flourishes in Europe
and makes a triumphant return to the U.S. twenty years later.
It’s survival of the fittest in the magazine
business. Sometimes, a little transcontinental evolution can give your genes a lifeline.
Such was the case for Illustreret Videnskab
(Science Illustrated), Bonnier’s greatest
magazine success. Though Illustreret Videnskab is now headquartered in Copenhagen,
Denmark, the magazine was a direct descendant of Science Digest, a magazine launched
in the 30s by Hearst. Seeing growing interest
in the science magazine genre in the U.S. and
a gap in the publishing market, a Danish
journalist pitched the idea of bringing Science Digest to the Nordic countries.
The publisher took a leap of faith on the
new title, launching Illustreret Videnskab
simultaneously in Denmark, Sweden and
Norway in January, 1984. “It was the first
time ever that a magazine was launched in
three different countries in three different
languages. That was a big investment,” says
Jens Henneberg, Executive Vice President
and Editorial Director at Copenhagen’s
Bonnier Publications. The magazine was an
instant success, turning a profit on the initial
investment within the first year.
The core business model astonished U.S.
Bonnier Corporation Group Publisher Gregg
Hano. “The first part of their success—great
editorial product, obviously. The second
part was the fact that they were able to
sell subscriptions to people for a very high
annual subscription price—in the ballpark
of $150 USD.” An average of about 85% of
Illustreret Videnskab’s income is derived
from subscription and newsstand sales of
the magazine.
The magazine celebrates its 25th anniversary
this year. Over the last quarter century, Illustreret Videnskab has evolved with its readers’
interests. The four cornerstones of their
editorial focus are now culture, technology,
medicine and nature.
“A magazine is not like a Coca-Cola, where you
can rely on the same recipe,” says Jens. “Of
course, there is some element of the recipe
16
that remains with the magazine, but you have
to develop all the time, the way we tell the
story, the way we design the magazine, the
topics we cover.”
In the early 00s, Bonnier Publications began
to rekindle an interest in the American market. “It was kind of an old dream, because the
interesting thing is that it’s a magazine that’s
truly international in its concept,” says Jens.
“A magazine is not
like a Coca-Cola,
where you can rely
on the same recipe.”
Jens Henneberg
In 2008, Illustreret Videnskab returned to
its birthplace, this time as Science Illustrated. Six of Illustreret Videnskab’s hefty
“spine” issues are translated into English
and published by the U.S. Bonnier Corporation, which also publishes Popular Science.
“Obviously it was a perfect match because
with Popular Science on board, you had a
team that knew the topic and knew the right
people to market to,” says Jens.
“People love it. They absolutely love it,” says
Gregg Hano. “I’d love for it to be brought into
the home by mom or dad, and have the kids
look at it and go, ‘Wow! This is amazing!’, and
to have them become fascinated with the
subject matter, the images, the stories all by
themselves.”
This year, Illustreret Videnskab celebrates
its 25th anniversary, with editions in 13
countries—Denmark, Norway, Sweden,
Finland, Holland, Belgium, Iceland, Greece,
Latvia, Lithuania, Australia, New Zealand
and the U.S. “An elephant in Africa is interesting in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and
so on,” says Jens Henneberg. “The editorial
formula is universal, and has been able to
attract Greek people in the Mediterranean,
Finnish people in the dark area of Scandinavia and so on.”
Jens says it’s always entertainment combined with information. “You should have a
great time reading the magazine and when
you’re done, you should feel that you’re a
little bit smarter. So you haven’t wasted
your time,” he laughs.
Facts / Illustreret Videnskab
Is published in 13 countries—Denmark,
Norway, Sweden, Finland, Holland, Belgium,
Iceland, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Australia,
New Zealand and the U.S.
Has produced 358 issues and 30,000 pages.
Has approximately 3.5 million readers,
worldwide.
4,536 readers have purchased every issue of
Illustreret Videnskab.
The magazine has generated enough revenue
to purchase a Boeing 747 and fly it around the
world for a year.
The core subscriber is a male 35-50, but the
magazine has a high ratio of female readers.
Illustreret Videnskab was an instant success when it debuted in 1984. Today it is published in many different countries. Top, left to right: Sweden,
Lithuania, Holland. Middle, left to right: Norway, Iceland, United States. Bottom, left to right: Finland, Latvia, Greece.
17
*
18
* Committed to freedom of speech: Bonnier publishes morning papers, evening papers and
business papers all over Europe.
Newspapers
Absolute freedom of speech rules our newspapers. In southern Russia, we’re just getting
started. In Sweden, we’re the market leaders.
Our morning papers are serious in editorial
tone; our evening papers are more entertaining. Our news reaches readers in print, online,
and on their mobile phones. From business
reporting across Europe to daily papers in
Sweden, we never abandon our founding
principle: credibility is king in the newspaper
world.
The newspaper operations consist of the
Swedish morning papers Dagens Nyheter,
Sydsvenskan, Kristianstadsbladet, Ystads
Allehanda and Trelleborgs Allehanda, the
evening papers Expressen, Kvällsposten and
GT, the free newspapers Stockholm City and
City Malmö Lund, as well as Bold Printing
Group and an array of digital media.
We publish daily business newspapers and
conduct online business in eleven countries.
In addition to Dagens Industri in Sweden and
Børsen in Denmark, we run sister publications in Russia, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland,
Slovenia and Bulgaria. Medicine Today
International consists of seven independent
news magazines published in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Poland, Estonia and
Slovenia, which are targeted at policy makers
in the health sector.
Since 1924
Dagens Nyheter, founded in 1864, is Sweden’s
largest morning paper. By tradition, its
mandate is to produce a quality newspaper
with broad appeal that functions as the most
important social and democratic civic arena
in Sweden.
Expressen is a Swedish evening paper, founded in 1944 in an effort to counteract Nazism.
Expressen was the first Swedish newspaper to
let readers comment on their articles online.
The Expressen media house also publishes
the evening papers GT and Kvällsposten.
Sydsvenskan, founded in 1848, is the largest
newspaper in southern Sweden. It is the parent newspaper of the SDS Group, which also
publishes local newspapers around the region.
Dagens Industri, Sweden’s largest financial
daily, monitors all industries and disciplines
in the private and public sectors in Sweden
and abroad. It is the most lucrative daily in
Sweden. The newspaper, its magazines and
online service di.se are read by almost half of
all business decision-makers in Sweden.
Børsen, founded in 1896, is the leading financial daily in Denmark. Børsen’s multimedia
platform also includes the site Borsen.dk,
the magazines Business and Pleasure, and
Børsen TV.
As adults mature, readership increases (US)
80 %
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
18-24
25-34
35-44
Daily Newspaper
Redership
45-54
55-64
65+ years
Sunday Newspaper
Readership
Source: NAA / Scarborough Research, 2008
All of Bonnier’s printing plants (Bold
Printing Group) in Stockholm, Malmö
and Borås are powered with lowemission electricity. We can track how
the electricity has been produced, with
hard data on its total carbon footprint.
Bonnier is committed to reducing the
negative environmental impact of its
operations and nurturing sustainable
community development.
19
Newspapers / Dailies
Explaining the Financial Crisis
The task was clear: “Make the financial crisis understandable!” Many tried and most failed. But the news cartoonists at Dagens Nyheter
embraced the challenge, creating one of the newspaper’s most talked-about, prize-winning pieces.
“As a news cartoonist, I’m constantly looking
for subjects that people are talking about, but
that no one can really explain,” says Johan
Jarnestad at Dagens Nyheter. “When you’re
working on your own projects it can be a bit
of a challenge to get them published in the
newspaper, but this job came straight from
the financial news editors. The goal was to
‘make the financial crisis understandable!’
This, for me, was a perfect situation.”
To tackle this topic, Johan first scanned
the internet to gather as much background
information as possible. He then worked in
close cooperation with business reporter
Dan Lucas, who composed the introductory
text while Johan illustrated. Periodically,
they compared notes and ideas.
“It actually started as two independent tracks
that came together in the end. Fortunately,
the result was a complete success.”
In the autumn of 2008, the collapse of the
American home mortgage bubble was a topic
on everyone’s lips – even in Sweden. It would
be the harbinger to one of history’s most devastating financial crises. But understanding
the underlying causes was a different matter
altogether.
“I had of course thought about the financial crisis before this job came in,” Johan
explains. “I had met experienced people
who worked in the financial sector, but none
of them could explain what was happening.
And if they didn’t know, who did?”
Johan began gathering input from many
sources. He understood that to simplify and
explain a complex subject, he would need
good information, especially since he didn’t
start out understanding the subject himself.
“To be able to dive into something and gain
that expertise is very exciting,” he says. “I got
to withdraw myself from my usual work in
order to focus on this project for two weeks,
a privilege I’m sure no other newspaper in
Sweden can offer its staff.”
20
Johan chose a classic method of storytelling,
allowing the reader to follow the fictional
Gonzales family through the ups and downs
of the American home mortgage roller
coaster.
“The toughest part was to find an appropriate
level of language. Usually, I tell stories with a
bit of humor, even if the subject is quite serious. The average reader browses for about
six seconds before turning the page – before
this happens, you need to capture their
interest.”
The readers’ responses were instantaneous
and unequivocal. Johan’s inbox was flooded
with e-mails, all saying the same thing:
“Thank you! Now I understand!” What’s
more, the Society for News Design – a veritable World Cup of newspaper design – honored his work with an Award of Excellence.
The competition’s Scandinavian equivalent
awarded him a bronze medal. “Dagens
Nyheter take the financial crisis down to
earth by literally beginning at the beginning
and giving the reader a step-by-step guide to
understanding the nature of the crisis. There
is a fine balance between humor and seriousness,” said the jury.
“When you win awards, it reinforces your
confidence and encourages you to devote
more time to certain projects. This alone is
worth a lot. And it doesn’t hurt that Dagens
Nyheter is very good about telling its readers
when one of its staff has received some kind
of honor.”
Johan is always looking for inspiration for
new works – it can be a comic series like
Tintin, a program on his favorite TV channel Discovery, magazines such as National
Geographic, the works of animator Don
Hertzfeldt, artworks, road signs or airport
billboards. But what is his dream project?
“To explain what happens to people when
they burn out or suffer from depression. This,
I think, is a subject that a lot of people are
interested in.”
“The average reader
browses for about
six seconds before
turning the page.”
Johan Jarnestad
Facts / Dagens Nyheter
Sweden’s only morning daily with nationwide
distribution.
First published on December 23rd, 1864.
Has correspondents stationed in Malmö/
Copenhagen, New York, Washington, Beijing,
London, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, Moscow,
Brussels, Buenos Aires, Berlin and Helsinki.
Is read every day by almost 10 percent of the
Swedish population aged 15 to 79.
Attracts approximately 1.1 million unique visitors per week to the Web site DN.se.
Has approximately 580 employees, half of
whom work in the editorial office, where the
gender ratio is 50-50.
15
Lehman
Brothers
faller tungt
Den 15 september 2008 går
investmentbanken Lehman
Brothers i konkurs och
finanskrisen når stormstyrka över hela världen.
14
13
CDO:erna runt om i världen
börjar lukta illa. Vem sitter på Svarte
Petter? Alla, visar det sig - eftersom
de dåliga lånen i CDO-mixen drar
ned de bra. ”Toxic loans”, säger
man i USA.
Paret Gonzales
förlorar sitt hus
Paret Gonzales kan inte längre
betala. Till slut förlorar de sitt
hus till banken. Husköpet
resulterade i en havererad
familjeekonomi och stora
skulder.
Den 16 mars blir Bear Stearns
finanskrisens första offer bland
de stora investmentbankerna.
Banken köps upp av konkurrenten JP Morgan Chase.
Procentandel huslån med 60
dagars förfallna betalningar,
1:a kvartalet 2008.
CDO:erna är
förgiftade
12
200
E
AL
RS
FO
Huspriserna
sjunker!
Husägare med problem ställer in lånebetalningarna och deras hus övergår i bankens
ägo. Överskott på hus Dec 2007: -13,9%
trycker ned priserna.
jämfört med dec 2006.
8
+15%
200
7
+5%
0
-5%
Lågkonjunkturen 2001
-00
-01 -02
-03 -04
-05 -06
-07
-15%
Källa: NY Times
200
Källa:
NY Times
11
Motorn börjar
hacka
5
FED har nu
höjt räntan
till 5,25%.
Va! Kastar du räkningarna i kaminen?!
Motorn i hela karusellen,
de ökande huspriserna i
USA, börjar hacka något.
Samtidigt gör styrräntans
nivå på 5,25% att Gonzales får problem att betala
sina räkningar - och de är
inte ensamma.
Fem
elefanter
10
släpps lösa
2006
Ja, det är ju det enda vi har
som kan värma upp huset.
200
Nu slipper fem banker
begränsningarna för
skuldinnehav: Goldman
Sachs, Merril Lynch,
Lehman Brothers, Bear
Stearns och Morgan
Stanley. Bankerna ökar
sina skuldinnehav markant och tjänar stora
pengar - men tar
samtidigt enorma risker.
4
Oj vad huspriserna stiger!
Kolla vad mycket
tillgångar alla har!
Det går
bra nu!
WA L L
n sprick
er!
2001
11 septem
börserna ber:
fa
oljepriset ller,
stiger.
STR
EE
T
nker FED
2003 sä till 1%,
an
nt
rä
yr
år.
st
vån på 45
lägsta ni
Hemliga
lådan är född
Banken har de senaste åren köpt upp
olika skulder som man blandar i sina
CDO-paket: bolån, billån, kontokortsskulder och annat. Problemet är bara
att blandningen av långa, korta, bra
och dåliga lån är knivig att överblicka.
CDO:n blir till en ”hemlig låda”.
HEMLIGA
LÅDAN
?
7
Här är det lite
skakigt, men huspriserna sjunker inte.
Hemliga lådan
försäkras
Bankerna vill försäkra sina
tillgångar (alltså skulder), om
något oförutsett skulle hända.
Världens största låneförsäkringsbolag AIG säljer sådana försäkringar.
DO
C
AIGRING
K
RSÄ
FÖ
2003
9
2002
6
ja
r hö
börja en.
FED äntan ig
r
styr
8
Nä, huspriser
kan inte sjunka.
...och nu säljs
paret Gonzales
skuld ännu en gång
CDO:erna är en lysande affär,
de rankas högt av rådgivare och
anses som en säker investering.
Investmentbankens enda
problem just nu är de regler
som begränsar hur mycket
skulder de får äga – för
de vill äga fler skulder.
Risken
får semester
Lådorna med de mest riskabla
skulderna blir svåra att sälja, så
de måste investmentbanken
behålla själv. Det finurliga är att
man kan ”gömma” risken med
lådorna i ett systerbolag i ett
skatteparadis. Då ser inte revisorerna tillgångarnas totala risk i
balansräkningen. Många investmentbanker gör likadant och risken byggs
på i det dolda.
SK RISK
RI
A
IT-bubb
la
RN
CAY
MANÖA
KÄLLA: NY TIMES, BBC, DAGENS INDUSTRI, WALL STREET JOURNAL
The financial crisis is not easy to explain in layman’s terms. But Johan Jarnestad succeeded by mixing facts and humor in this illustration of the plight of a fictional family (second section shown here).
21
Newspapers / Business Press
A Town Called Krasnodar
A fledgling weekly business newspaper in Russia faces off against a touchy mayor, extortionist thugs and advertisers used to preferential treatment. Sounds like a post-Communism novel, but the editors of Delovaya gazeta Yug fight challenges like these regularly.
The Russian economy can be described in
simple terms. First comes Moscow. Then
comes nothing. Next comes St. Petersburg.
Then comes nothing. Finally, there are just
over a dozen cities with populations around
or above one million. These were the cities –
along with their surrounding regions – that
Bonnier decided to start researching in 2006.
“We visited a number of places throughout Russia and surveyed the situation of
media markets, which was not a simple task
because the markets are quite insular,” says
Andrus Vaher, CEO of Delovoy Peterburg
and Delovaya gazeta Yug. “Many of the
larger cities had also had well-established
business newspapers for many years. In the
end, we had a shortlist of five cities. From
this list, we chose Krasnodar.”
Krasnodar is known as the center of the
Kuban Cossacks’ struggle against the Bolsheviks. And the spirit of the “grasshoppers
of the steppes,” or the “blue-eyed wolves,” as
the Cossacks were called by their enemies,
survives to this day in the form of widespread suspicion of authority. Here, 1,500
kilometers (900 miles) south of Moscow and
100 kilometers (60 miles) from the Black
Sea coast, Bonnier has published the weekly
business newspaper Delovaya gazeta Yug
since 2007.
“We already had a newspaper in St. Petersburg, Delovoy Peterburg, which has worked
very well there,” explains Andrus. “So it felt
logical to test the concept in other cities.”
Although the city of Krasnodar has a population of less than 800,000, it is the center of
Krasnodar kraj, a region with a population of
over five million. Krasnodar kraj is also home
to Novorossiysk, the largest Russian port on
the Black Sea, and Sochi, the country’s most
popular seaside resort and the host city of
the 2014 Winter Olympics. Krasnodar ranks
third among cities where most new vehicles
are purchased per capita, after Moscow and
St. Petersburg. The May 2009 Russian edition
of Forbes magazine recognized Krasnodar
22
as “the best city for business in the country.”
Despite all of this, Krasnodar lacked its own
business newspaper.
“Most Russian newspapers are fairly uncritical toward the local city government and
potential advertisers, to say the least,” says
Andrus. “But that’s not how we work. Our
concept, besides writing about the people
behind the companies, rather than just
the companies themselves, is to remain
independent and to avoid all ties with local
industries. So it was extremely difficult to explain to our advertisers that we didn’t plan to
write positively about them simply because
they advertised with us.”
“Most Russian newspapers are fairly
uncritical toward
potential advertisers, to say the least.”
Andrus Vaher
And the process of establishing a newspaper
in Krasnodar hasn’t been easy. One day, two
men stepped into the editors’ offices. They
explained that they had come on behalf of
the tax authorities and were there to check
that the newspaper had paid licensing fees
on its computer software. They threatened
to seize all of the computers, which would
have been completely devastating for the
newspaper. At the same time, they hinted
that an appropriate sum of money might just
solve the problem.
“Our Managing Director, Dmitry Volkov,
called me and said, ‘What should we do,
Andrus? They want to take our computers,’”
says Andrus. “I said, ‘We can’t allow this.’
After discussing for a while, Dmitry came out
and said that if you take our computers we’ll
write about it – not only in our paper, but in
all of the European business newspapers
within our group. This would spread some
pretty bad publicity to the region’s potential
investors. After a bit of deliberation the men
disappeared. And we haven’t heard from
them since.”
Currently, Delovaya gazeta Yug is published
only once a week, but the staff plans to increase its frequency. A newspaper that dares
to speak out should have no trouble succeeding in the hometown of the Cossacks.
Facts / Bonnier Business Press in Russia
Bonnier has been present in Russia since 1993,
when the business newspaper Delovoy Peterburg was launched. Today, Delovoy Peterburg
is the leading business daily in St. Petersburg
as well as the country’s third-largest in terms
of paid circulation.
Apart from Delovoy Peterburg and the online business news site www.dp.ru, the company has a delivery service and handbook
publishing operation, as well as a weekly
business newspaper in Krasnodar, Delovaya
gazeta Yug.
The strategic objective for Bonnier Business
Press is to take the business model of the
already successful Delovoy Peterburg to other
major cities in Russia.
The 14-meter (45-foot) statue of “Aurora”, a young soldier in the Red Army during the Russian Revolution of October 1917.
The Ivan Shmagun sculpture was unveiled in 1967 and is now a famous landmark in Krasnodar.
23
*
24
* The Skandia movie theater in Stockholm opened in 1923. It was designed by one of the world’s
most respected architects, Gunnar Asplund. Many of the 20th century’s most famous artists
have contributed to the theater’s interior decoration.
Film & Theaters
Svensk Filmindustri (SF) is one of the oldest
and most respected film companies in the
world. Since its establishment in 1919, the
company has produced some of the silver
screen’s best known films.
SF’s classic silent films helped define the era,
with master works like The Legend of Gösta
Berling from 1924, starring a young Greta
Garbo. SF also brought Astrid Lindgren’s
much-loved characters to the big screen,
including Pippi Longstocking, Emil in Lönneberga, The Children of Bullerby Village,
Karlsson on the Roof and many others. More
than 20 of Ingmar Bergman’s films came out
of SF, including the Oscar-winning The Virgin
Spring and Through a Glass Darkly.
SF Bio is Sweden’s largest movie theater
chain and one of the most modern cinema
chains in Europe. SF Bio offers all film lovers
the ultimate movie experience, from the latest sound systems and widescreens to luxurious seating. SF Bio also sold 8.5 million liters
of popcorn in 2008, an average of 0.8 liters
per visitor.
While Bonnier is constantly looking towards
the future of film, we never forget that we have
an important historical legacy to preserve.
Since 1973
Worldwide Box Office Sales
US $ Billions
Worldwide box office sales grow
30
Svensk Filmindustri is the second-oldest film
company in the world. Over the years, the
company has produced some of the world’s
most well-known films, worked with internationally-renowned actors and directors,
and accumulated a collection of rights to over
1,200 titles. SF has produced over 500 feature
films and is also the leading distributor of film
and video in the Nordic region.
25
24,9
23,1
Homeenter is the largest mail order/internet
club service specializing in entertainment
products in Sweden, Norway, Denmark,
Finland and Poland.
26,7
20
15
15,7
14,3
16,3
17,1
18,3
9,2
8,8
9,1
9,6
9,8
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
10
5
0
International
SF Bio is the largest movie theater owner in
Sweden and one of the largest in Norway.
SF Bio operates 43 movie theaters with 292
screens in 29 cities in Sweden and Norway,
with almost 34,000 seats. Approximately 12
million people visit an SF theater every year.
26,7
25,4
US
US $ Billions. Source: MPAA, 2009
SF has earned many movie awards
through the years, including three
Oscars: Best Documentary for Symphony of a City (1948), directed by Arne
Sucksdorff, Best Foreign Film for The
Virgin Spring (1961), directed by Ingmar
Bergman, and Best Foreign Film for
Through a Glass Darkly (1962), directed
by Ingmar Bergman.
25
Film & Theaters
A Night
at the Movies
There are movie theaters, and then there’s Bergakungen – a spectacular palace of entertainment with VIP lounges, restaurants, gigantic screens and a world-class audio system.
It’s Saturday night at Bergakungen. Three
anti-aircraft spotlights sweep slowly across
the night sky as they might at an Oscars
gala. The concessions line snakes through
the foyer; the air is filled with expectation,
excited chatter and the smell of popcorn. By
the time the credits fade on the evening’s
final film, over 6,500 people have sunken
comfortably into their seats and glued their
eyes to the big screen.
Bergakungen is a haven for film buffs. THXstandard theaters, Dolby SRD and DTS digital
audio systems guarantee perfect sound quality. But they have also lavished attention on the
details – at restaurant Danilo, named after
the Italian director Federico Fellini’s costume
and lighting director Danilo Donati, blackand-white neorealist films are projected onto
curtains. In true Hollywood Boulevard style,
a painting composed of twelve handprints
from stars such as Mel Gibson and Anthony
Hopkins hangs in the inner foyer.
Gothenburg’s Filmstaden Bergakungen,
which opened in 2006, is Scandinavia’s most
spectacular movie theater complex, with
“Bergakungen is entirely in a class of its own,”
Sweden’s largest screens, mind-blowing
says Mats Kullander, Director of Building
digital sound and the most comfortable seatand Development at SF Bio. “It has everying available. Part of the largest theater, a
thing we wanted to offer. And when it comes
10,000-square-meter (107,000-square-foot)
to audio quality, you won’t find better sound
space, is nestled deep within the cliffs beat any movie theater in the world.”
neath Burgårdsparken, with a 400-squaremeter (4,300-square-foot) glass façade. The
Moviegoers obviously appreciate the Berfoyer is also home to a café and a restaurant.
gakungen experience. In its first year, BerBergakungen houses an exclusive VIP secgakungen attracted 1.2 million people – well
tion with leather armchairs and a VIP lounge, over the 800,000 SF Bio had estimated.
the first of its kind in Sweden. Each of the
two largest theaters is equipped with 21
“At premieres I always stand at the entrance
extra-wide seats with spacious legroom.
to the best theater and listen to people’s reactions. By far the most common reactions are,
“We’d been searching for a movie theater loca‘Wow, what a theater!’ or ‘This is the coolest
tion in Gothenburg for many years,” explains
movie theater I’ve ever seen!’” says Mats.
Jan Bernhardsson, CEO of SF Bio. “We had
“This is the greatest reward for me.”
wanted to blast a large theater space into the
cliffs near Konserthuset, hence the name Ber- As early as 1923, world-famous architect
gakungen – the king of the mountain. But this
Gunnar Asplund wrote that movie theaters
turned out to be impossible, and after several
should be designed so that people “gradually
rounds of discussions, the project moved.”
become accustomed to the darkness.” This is
precisely how Bergakungen is constructed.
One particularly cold winter’s day, Jan
walked to the site with some project team
“The way you enter and leave a movie theater
members, trying to envision how to bring
is vital to the overall experience,” Mats
business to the remote area. They decided
explains. “At most theaters, you either enter
they needed to turn the theater into a destifrom the rear, where you only see a mass of
nation unto itself, complete with a restaurant, seatbacks with the screen in the distance,
bar and café. “We needed something that
or you enter from the front, where you can’t
would turn an average night out at the moveven see the screen. At Bergakungen 1 and 2,
ies into a genuinely special occasion,” says
you emerge at the seventh row. From there,
Jan. “This is how we came up with the idea
you have a great perspective of the entire
of the VIP lounge – something people would
space, and at the same time you can take in
really talk about. And as they say, the rest is
the enormous screen – 18 meters (60 feet)
history.”
wide. So you see, size does matter.”
26
“You won’t find better sound at any
movie theater in the world.”
Mats Kullander
Facts /Bergakungen
The Nordic countries’ largest, most modern
and most spectacular movie theater complex.
14 screens and 2,260 seats, with 150 films and
22,000 screenings per year.
Completely digital foyer with 104 flat-screen
displays.
170,000 meters (558,000 feet) of film shown
per day, amounting to 62,000 kilometers
(38,500 miles) of film per year, or a distance
of one and a half times around the earth’s
equator.
Sweden’s most expansive screen: 18.1 meters
(60 feet) wide and 7.6 meters (25 feet) high,
the equivalent of 573 28-inch TV screens.
Bergakungen, clockwise from top left: Restaurant Danilo; spotlights sweep across the sky at the theater entrance; the exclusive VIP lounge;
the bar in the VIP lounge; the largest movie screen in Sweden; the circular external foyer.
27
*
28
* The pixel is the smallest unit of information in a digital image. Bonnier’s global digital media reach is deep and
wide, with leading sites and mobile content for news, lifestyle, e-commerce, gaming, community and more.
Digital Media
Since 1995
Internet Usage Among Kids
Fostering and championing great media
ideas has always been in our company’s genes.
The digital realm is no exception. No other
media company can boast the digital product
diversity and commitment to innovation that
Bonnier can. From daily news to e-commerce
to gaming to mobile, Bonnier’s reach in digital
media goes deep and wide, with hundreds of
sites and millions of unique visitors daily.
Our companies are collaborating on crossplatform services. TV4 and evening newspaper Expressen have created Väderkanalen.se,
a personalized weather site offering mobile
content, real-time satellite reports, weather
blogs and the latest television forecast videos.
And we are investing in the future. Our
Research & Development team uses market
intelligence to identify opportunities for innovation and initiate business development.
B.Vision, our idea lab, is a breeding ground
for new media concepts, investing in and
harvesting the knowledge that will shape the
future of the media industry.
As an international company, we are creating
digital strategies across a number of platforms to address different market needs
around the world.
News, Magazines & TV sites
The sites for Dagens Nyheter, Expressen,
Dagens Industri and TV4 receive a total of
about 16 million unique visitors per month. 5
million online videos are played monthly on
Finland’s MTV Media sites. Our U.S. magazine
sites averaged over 50 million page views per
month in 2008. Mobile
Dagens Nyheter broke ground with the
world’s first newspaper mobile phone. Top
downloaded iPhone applications include Vinvin for Allt om Mat’s wine reviews and SF Bio’s
popular movie ticket booking system.
E-commerce
Discshop.se is one of the largest online stores
for films and games in northern Europe. AdLibris, an online bookstore, sells 3.5 million
books a year throughout the Nordic region.
Social media
Denmark’s Style Gallery garners 1.7 million
page views per month with user-generated
fashionista photos. Newsmill.se in Sweden
is the leading online crowdcasting forum for
debate. Boktipset.se is a social networking site
for book lovers, with over one million book
ratings from over 10,000 members.
Earlier internet usage among kids (Sweden)
100
%
80
60
40
20
0
3 4
5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12
When did today’s 12-15 year-olds start
using the internet?
13
When do children start using the
internet today
Source: World Internet Institute, 2008
TV4’s Play lets viewers watch their
favorite programs for free, full-screen
and on demand. Users can share their
favorite videos instantly through social
bookmarking sites like Delicious or
by embedding the player on their own
sites. The player features an application
which allows viewers to post a Facebook
comment to their profile while watching
a specific video.
29
Digital Media
Oh Baby
Every year, hundreds of thousands of mothers submit photos to the Parenting and Babytalk cover contests in the hopes of getting their child in
the spotlight. Parenting.com found a way to help more of those moms show off their beautiful babies to the world.
The Parenting/Live with Regis and Kelly
Beautiful Baby Search and Babytalk/GMA
Cover Contest receive pictures of 350,000
adorable babies a year, but only two actually
get to grace the magazine covers. So how do
you keep the other 349,998 mothers from
sending in angry letters?
“Parenting.com started doing photo galleries
a couple of years ago. We realized that we
could deliver more reader satisfaction and
make a lot more moms happy by making galleries of a tiny fraction of the entries. So even
if your baby doesn’t make it onto the cover,
you can see them on our Web site,” says
Director of Parenting.com Rachel Fishman
Feddersen.
Parenting.com is the online home of Parenting and Babytalk magazines, which are
published by the U.S. Bonnier Corporation’s
Parenting Group. In the ten years since
Babytalk’s first cover contest, the web has
become a driving force connecting mothers
together. More than ever, the web has helped
moms from all backgrounds to band together, forming a diverse, vocal contingency
with political clout and purchasing power.
Parenting.com is one of the web destinations where moms can go to share their love
for their children with a community who
understands. Each year, the Parenting and
Babytalk cover contests receive hundreds of
thousands of photo entries in their search for
America’s cutest crawlers. “I think that every
mom in America thinks her baby is the most
adorable child on earth and wants the world
to see how gorgeous her child is. People want
to capture that moment when their child is
innocent and special.”
The contest also helps capture that moment
in a mother’s life when her world is filled with
the precious, uncomplicated joy her baby
gives her.
“When a woman becomes a mother, the
center of her gravity changes. It’s not that
she becomes a different person, but all of her
30
energy is directed at nurturing this new human being. You make time for your children
in ways that you would never do for yourself,”
explains Rachel. “Some people are very comfortable with self-promotion, some people
are not; but everyone is comfortable with
promoting their child when there’s a chance
of getting something wonderful for them.”
Parenting.com has expanded the Babytalk
cover contest into an eight-month long
program. The online coverage complements
and extends what’s in print. “At the end of
the day, the magazine can only really use two
pages and showcase around 50 babies when
they do their contest article. We’ll do that in a
single week, and showcase hundreds of adorable entrants over the course of the contest,”
says Rachel.
As digital cameras have become ubiquitous
and affordable, the number of digital entries
has increased exponentially – now, the
majority of contest entries are submitted
through the web. “Since the galleries are
so popular, they’ve become their own piece
of the business. We now sell sponsorships
around the galleries as a component distinct
from the contest itself. We’ve also brought
on new sponsors based on the galleries’ success,” says Rachel.
This year’s contests have generated nine
million page views (and counting). Parenting.com expects traffic to continue to grow
through the summer and build up around
the time that the Babytalk cover contest winner is announced on ABC’s morning show,
Good Morning America.
But can there be such a thing as cute
overload? Rachel doesn’t think so. “I love
looking through the photo galleries. The
babies are so adorable and happy; it never
gets old for me.”
“People want to capture that moment when their
child is innocent
and special.”
Rachel Fishman Feddersen
Facts / Parenting.com
Parenting.com’s Beautiful Baby Search
television partner Live with Regis and Kelly
receives over 25 million viewers during their
Beautiful Baby Search week, which happens
every year during sweeps.
The cover contest galleries generate the
most page views of any of Parenting.com’s
programs.
The Babytalk cover contest is in its 10th year
in print.
Parenting.com was a finalist for the American
Society of Magazine Editors’ Award for General Excellence Online in 2009.
Parenting.com’s Cover Maker Tool lets any
mom create her own magazine cover.
1-year-old Soraya Dennis of San Clemente, California stood out from among 300,000 other adorable baby photos to win the 2009 Beautiful Baby
Search. Each year, Parenting.com creates photo galleries featuring hundreds of cute baby pictures.
31
The Story
Bonnier represents more than 200 years of sustainable media entrepreneurship through seven generations of the Bonnier family. From the beginning, the family has promoted high-quality media products while collaborating closely with authors, journalists and publishers.
1901
The Swedish book publishing company Wahlström & Widstrand publishes a collection
of poems by the first Nobel Prize laureate in
literature, Frenchman Sully Prudhomme.
1804
1912
Gerhard Bonnier opens a bookstore in Copenhagen and publishes an anthology of crime
stories called Underfulde og sandfærdige
kriminalhistorier [Strange and true criminal
histories]. The name on the cover of the book
is that of German writer Henrik Spiesz, but
Spiesz claims that he didn’t actually write it.
The true identity of Bonnier’s first published
author remains a mystery to this day.
Åke Bonnier establishes the Albert Bonnier
Publishing House in New York to promote
Swedish literature in the U.S. The company
is later transformed into a bookshop and
eventually, in the 50s, becomes an exclusive
department store at 605 Madison Avenue
specializing in Swedish handicraft.
1837
The book-publishing house Albert Bonniers
Förlag is founded in Stockholm. The company’s first title is an essay by Jean-Baptiste
Pérès called Proof That Napoleon Never
Existed.
1924
Bonnier acquires enough stocks to claim
majority partnership of the Swedish daily
newspaper, Dagens Nyheter.
August Strindberg’s short story collection
Giftas, published by Albert Bonniers Förlag,
is charged with blasphemy. Strindberg is in
Switzerland at the time and does not want to
return to Sweden. Karl Otto Bonnier travels
to Geneva and convinces him to come home.
Strindberg is acquitted by the municipal
court in Stockholm.
32
1945
The Swedish evening newspaper Expressen
is the first paper in the world to report that
Germany has surrendered. The front page is
dominated by the word FRED (PEACE).
1947
Roy and Walt Disney come to Sweden to try
to convince Bonnier to publish Donald Duck.
Bonnier says no, stating, “Talking ducks are
not for us.”
1950
1929
1884
journalism. The magazine actively combats
Nazism and Swedish sympathizers during
World War II.
Bonnier becomes Sweden’s leading magazine
publisher after purchasing the publishing
company Åhlén & Åkerlund.
1938
Se, an illustrated magazine, is founded in
1938 as Sweden’s first news-in-pictures
publication. Using American Life magazine
and Look as its role models, Se creates what
for Sweden is an entirely new type of photo-
The Swedish comic book publisher Semic
is founded. Their first title is The Phantom,
followed by favorites such as Blondie (1951),
Tarzan (1951) and Buffalo Bill (1952).
1955
Printing plants are established in Colombia
and Brazil under the name Interprint. The
Colombian operation ceases, but the Brazilian
operation flourishes with an English partner.
1959–61
The international magazine project Continental Key is launched and terminated in Paris.
simultaneously in Sweden, Denmark and
Norway. Today it is published in 13 countries.
1987
1965
Cappelens Forlag in Norway is purchased,
marking the first real attempt to internationalize book publishing operations.
The Australian publishing house Five Mile
Press, a general publisher of adult and children’s titles for the Australian and international market, is acquired.
The special-interest magazine publisher Specialtidningsförlaget is founded and Veckans
Affärer (Business Week) starts. Among their
successful titles are the interior magazine
Allt i Hemmet (founded in 1956) and the food
magazine Allt om Mat (founded in 1970).
2005
1989
1973
Bonnier acquires the major Swedish film
company Svensk Filmindustri, SF, known
for producing most of the films by Ingmar
Bergman and the film adaptations of Astrid
Lindgren’s children’s books Pippi Longstocking and Karlsson on the Roof.
1976
Expressen is the only newspaper in the world
with the image of the wedding kiss between
Sweden’s King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia.
The issue sells 957,000 copies, still the record
for a single-copy of a Swedish newspaper.
2004
Bonnier creates the newspaper Äripäev to
assist the democratic movement in Estonia.
The newspaper is printed in Stockholm and
shipped to Estonia for free distribution to
the people. In an effort to counteract the
Estonian resistance, the Soviets cut off oil
supplies to Tallinn, but Äripäev’s Swedish
sister publication, Dagens Industri, leases
a tanker and deliver fuel to the ailing nation,
after collecting money from readers. Enough
money is left over to set up a training fund for
Estonian journalists. Over the next few years,
Bonnier continues the free press initiative by
setting up daily papers in Latvia, Lithuania
and Russia.
1995
15-screen multiplex Filmstaden Sergel opens
in Stockholm.
In collaboration with Proventus, Bonnier
acquires the Finnish TV channels MTV3, Sub
and Radio Nova. They form Nordic Broadcasting.
CRUISING
WORLD
12 Radar Units tested p.130 F ted hood’s expedition 55 p.104
models
64new
boat-show preview
for 2008
OctOber 2007
p.138
the new Island
Packet 465
On the CheSaPeake
The sailiNg life
F What Do Women Really Want?
F Reader Makeovers
F More “People & Food” Recipes
F Columnist Wendy Mitman clarke
New This issue
Gunkholing near Annapolis p.80
Adventure down the Potomac p.96
US $4.99
Canada $5.99
www.cruisingworld.com
2006
Bonnier becomes part-owner of the American
company World Publications, a magazine
publisher dedicated to passions like surfing,
sailing, food and gardening.
2007
Bonnier, together with partner World Publications, acquires Time4Media and The Parenting Group in the U.S., forming the Bonnier
Corporation as a result.
2008
1997
1976
The Swedish business daily Dagens Industri
is launched, with the concept that people, not
companies, make decisions. The paper is the
first of a successful group of financial newspapers in countries throughout northern and
eastern Europe.
1978
Bonnier attempts to enter the U.S. magazine
market through a joint venture with the
publishing house 13-30 Corp./Esquire. Further
attempts would follow: 1981 with Lark Communications, 1984 with Washington Dossier,
1986 with Cook’s Magazine and 1991 with the
Bonnier Publications project Fashion and Craft.
1984
The first successful international magazine
project, Illustreret Videnskab, is launched
Bonnier becomes a joint owner of the largest
Swedish TV channel, TV4. Ten years later it
has acquired 98.9% of the company’s shares.
The match between Sweden and Denmark in
the European soccer championship in 2004
was watched by 3.8 million viewers, making it
TV4’s most popular program ever.
1998
The first book in J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter
series is published by Carlsen Verlag in Germany and becomes an instant success. Today,
they have sold about 30 million copies of the
German editions. According to a study, 25
percent of all Germans over the age of 14 have
read at least one Harry Potter book.
1998
The free magazine Vi i Villa, which reaches
all Swedish houseowners, is acquired. Today,
there are international versions in all Nordic
countries.
Bonnier creates the idea lab B.Vision to collect
interesting business ideas and form a meeting
place for entrepreneurs. B.Vision aims to find
and develop new products to meet tomorrow’s
media consumers’ needs.
2008
Bonnier acquires the leading premium payTV company C More Entertainment in the
Nordic countries, offering world class films,
TV series and sports events like NHL ice
hockey and English Premier League soccer.
2009
Swedish TV channel TV4 and newspaper Expressen form TV4 Expressen Mobilab, a joint
venture for mobile services. Their first major
project together is Väderkanalen, an online,
mobile, TV and print weather service.
33
The Future Perfect
What’s next? We’re not waiting to find out. Bonnier is taking an active role in shaping the future of media. Our companies have always innovated in all areas of media, and today, we have two teams at our corporate headquarters to bolster those efforts.
As an international company with businesses in all media channels, Bonnier
understands that in addition to finding the
best talent in the world, we must also provide
our employees with the tools they need to
succeed in a rapidly-morphing media world.
Research & Development
The media business is changing, but Sara
Öhrvall, head of the Bonnier Research &
Development team, stresses that there are
opportunities for new business everywhere.
“When you say that book reading will change
dramatically, some people can perceive
this as a threat. But the company that can
provide the new consumer experience will
be the winner,” says Sara.
Bonnier Research & Development was created to jumpstart such creative product development in every media channel. They use
market intelligence to identify opportunities
for innovation and develop new business
around those ideas. “The major challenge
will be transformation across our extensive
media into new digital platforms. That’s not
just web media; that also means defining and
developing the future film or TV experience,
the future magazine and newspaper reading
experience and so on,” says Sara.
In keeping with Bonnier’s longstanding
tradition of putting their trust in creatives,
the R&D team gives the power of concept and
execution to the individual entrepreneurs
who are already experts in their business
areas. R&D strives to be an inspiring and
thought-provoking business development
partner who can provide valuable support in
identifying key business opportunities and
developing consumer media concepts.
The empowerment of individual companies,
coupled with a focus in niche interest areas,
will enable Bonnier to best serve consumers’
needs. “The culture of this company will help
us move forward,” says Sara. “Our long-term
perspective will help us be persistent enough
to find the areas where future opportunities
for growth are.”
34
Bonnier Media University
BMU is the networking and knowledge hub
for the company’s best and brightest. Since
1997, over 10,000 people have participated
in courses, seminars and conferences organized by BMU. Few other media companies
in the world can offer the same level of training and international networking opportunities for both leaders and up-and-coming
achievers.
Bonnier Media University Executive Director Stefan Mehr says that though cross-platform collaboration is the norm today, it was
not common when he began working with
BMU in 1997. “At that time, a journalist and
a book person would never meet. They were
different species. There were even people
who didn’t want them to meet, because they
didn’t want the different cultures to mix.”
But today, cross-media cooperation is a core
part of Bonnier’s business. “BMU’s purpose
is to realize the vision of Jonas Bonnier to
be the most attractive media company in
the world. We need a university to create the
network – the network has become the most
essential strategic part, for business reasons.”
Stefan was himself a participant in the
second Bonnier Publishing Program in 1991.
Now, as BMU’s director, he hopes to instill
courage and confidence in the next generation of Bonnier digital media leaders. “There
is no better way to spread Bonnier culture,”
says Stefan.
BMU’s track record is impeccable. As Stefan
explains, “Most of the people sitting in high
positions today have attended Bonnier Media University.”
Facts / R&D’s activities
Centers of Excellence develop key skills and
knowledge within business-critical areas of
development, with a special focus on digital
media.
The Global Media Map is an annual trend
report covering trends in different media
channels and regions. The Spark bi-monthly
trendletter shares the latest research across
all media types.
Quarter by Quarter attacks select a new media opportunity to focus on, with workshops
with external and internal experts, focus
studies and concept development.
B. Vision is our “idea lab”, a hub for knowledge exchange with entrepreneurs.
The New Media Council, the Mobile Media
Network and the Consumer & Market Intelligence Network help leaders find shared
opportunities in emerging media markets.
Facts / BMU’s course offerings
The Bonnier Publishing Program is a media
education and business development course
on digital media.
GROW is a unique global work exchange pro-
gram which allows employees to experience
life at a Bonnier company in another country
for three months.
GRID is an annual conference that combines
performances, speakers and face-to-face
meetings with Bonnier colleagues from
around the world.
Bonnier Leadership Program is a nineday course to help managers improve their
coaching and communication skills.
The New as a Manager Program trains newly
promoted managers with leadership skills
such as negotiation and conflict resolution.
Charlotta Friborg
DN.se, Sweden
Zach Stovall
Tony Gerard
Caribbean Travel & Life, United States Five Mile Press, Australia
Jennifer Abbasi
Science Illustrated, United States
Elin Fundell
Damernas Värld, Sweden
Tomaz Cepon
Finance, Slovenia
Albert Bonnier
Bonnierförlagen, Sweden
Birgit Slomski
Carlsen Verlag, Germany
Paulina Modlitba Söderlund
Bonnier AB, R&D, Sweden
Amadou Khan
Samdistribution, Sweden
James Oseland
Saveur, United States
Cathy Hertz
Bonnier Corporation, United States
Erika Ericson
TV4, Sweden
Michael Horgan
Five Mile Press, Australia
Maaretta Tukiainen
Sub, Finland
Igor Rõtov
Äripäev, Estonia
Kaisa Filppula
Bonnier Publications Oy, Finland
Jens Henneberg
Bonnier Publications, Denmark
Trude Løtvedt
Cappelen Damm, Norway
Christophe Alphonse
Discshop, Sweden
Bettina Feldweg
Piper Verlag, Germany
Aleksandra Żurada
Puls Biznesu, Poland
Päivi Koskinen
MTV Oy, Finland
Souad Azahaf
SF Bio, Sweden
35
Andrus Vaher
Delovoy Peterburg, Russia
36
bonnier.com