Inner workings

Fascinating statistic: Per capita Finland has/creates more magazines than any other country in the world! This all seems to make perfect sense when you hear that Finns read more than the average individual.

My first week has consisted of mainly meetings/presentations, which Virve (head of HR) has been kind enough to organize for me. From the ground up we started with logistics and distribution, how the various Bonnier branches work with one another throughout the Nordic countries. Then we progressed to marketing and subscriptions for both their own brands, as well as, the numerous cross border titles which Bonnier licenses (Nat Geo, Science Illustrated, etc.). On to sales (which was very intriguing in our current economic climate) how to entice prospective advertisers through new and innovative ways. Everything from planned events where the advertisers get face time with the brands thousands of readers, to special inserts and custom covers for sale in the clients stores. Everyone has been super forthcoming in letting me ask any and all questions large and small as they come to mind. It has already become quite clear that this amazing experience will enable me to have a much greater insight into the inner workings of the magazine publishing industry in Europe and beyond.

Okay I haven't even begun to talk about Bonnier Publication Finland's own brands. Let's first start by saying the competition is stiff. Divaani their shelter publication has not 1 or even 5 top competitors but atleast 10! In the short time in which it has been around (a bit over a year) it has already caused quite a stir. Making the larger publishing houses rethink their own approach from design to execution.

I truly believe that this is one overarching aspect of Bonnier companies worldwide, we employ passionate individuals, work with a streamlined and tight staff, all while thinking outside the box with our budgets to enable us to compete effectively with larger publishers everywhere. Not only that...but I have seriously become convinced that when the staff size grows too large there inevitably starts to be a lack of ownership. This may not be the rule, but by and large it creates a atmosphere where everyone resides only in their own small world not as a cohesive unit. Magazines are living, breathing entities which constantly need to evolve in order to keep their relevance/focus while engaging the viewer in an ever growing and competitive visual field. (Okay got sidetracked but much more to come about Olivia, as well as, the future launch project of Evita soon)