The Broadcasting & Evening Paper business area saw a decrease in advertising revenue in 2009 due to the economic crisis. However, the industry benefited from expansion, with 245 new TV channels launching in Europe. TV4 Group, part of Bonnier, saw an increase in viewers during the year despite the challenging economic environment.

1. *
Annual Review 2009

2. Bonnier at a Glance
Net sales by business area
MSEK
10,000
8,000
6,000
4,000
2,000
0
Net sales per country
ag ks
Ev adc nes
En g P g &
r
t
s
Bu tain r
ne en
pe
es
e
M oo
ap
Pr
m
in in
Pa
i
az
B
en ast
5%
ss
ng
7% Sweden
ni
r
te
si
or
o
M
Br
Denmark
10 %
U.S.
5 1% Finland
EBITA by business area 13 %
MSEK Norway
7% Germany
1,000
8% Other
800
600
400 Net sales by revenue stream
200
3 % 6% Ads
0 Subscriptions
3 1%
Direct sales
-200
25 % Retail
-400 Box office
ag ks
Ev adc nes
En g P g &
r
t
s
Bu tain r
ne en
pe
es
e
Other
M oo
ap
Pr
m
in in
Pa
i
az
10 %
B
en ast
ss
ng
25 %
ni
r
te
si
or
o
M
Br

3. Key Figures 2009
Revenues 30,867 MSEK
EBITA 1,185 MSEK
Profit after financial items –228 MSEK
Reduced net debt 193 MSEK
Employees (year average) 10,905
From its humble beginnings as a small book shop
and publisher in 1804, Bonnier has grown into
an international media conglomerate working in
all forms of media, within 175 companies in 16
countries. Bonnier is wholly owned by the Bonnier
family, which has been running the company for
seven generations.
From Jan. 1, 2010, operations are divided into the
following business areas: Books, Broadcasting
& Evening Paper, Business Press, Digital,
Entertainment, Magazines and Morning Paper.
Corporate headquarters are in Stockholm, Sweden.
3

4. 4

5. 2009 in Black
and White
At last: the year that shook up the media priate – and profitable. Today we can no was time to stop speaking of it as some-
industry and put us back on the right longer pretend we don’t know what our thing new. The business models we had
track. audience wants. They tell us – every day, searched so long for were actually the same
every minute – exactly what they think of business models we had always used: We
For a few months this past spring, our what we produce. And we have to listen, get paid for producing products that people
advertising sales in the U.S. dropped by 30 not reluctantly but eagerly. It’s still about like. It’s as simple as that. But it took a year
percent from the previous year. In August the element of surprise, about creative de- like 2009 for us to realize this.
the advertising volume in our Swedish velopment and refinement. But clearly the
business newspaper was just half the vol- starting point is our audience’s demands. In numbers, 2009 was a year of extremes.
ume of the year before. These figures were
hard to swallow at the time. We spoke of 2. Efficiency Several of our print media recorded some
a paradigm shift and painted the world in Good years create bad habits. And many of the worst figures of the past decade. For
black and white. But now that 2009 has good years create a host of bad habits, SF Bio and our combined book publishing
come to a close, we can once again con- which, added together over time, become operations, 2009 was the best year of the
firm: It’s not black or white, but black and increasingly difficult to escape. By neglect- companies’ 100- and 200-year histories,
white. ing to adapt cost structures and working respectively.
methods for a new age, we posed risks
The year 2009 was when the high tide of to our operations, brands and business Reality is seldom only black or white.
an economic boom receded, suddenly and opportunities. Thankfully, 2009 finally
dramatically revealing truths we had al- presented us with a chance to correct our
ways known but had managed to repress. course.
At the increasingly frenzied pace of the
first decade of the millennium, we ran 3. Digitization
ever faster, and in ever tighter circles, until According to rough estimates, more
suddenly, our conclusions about the future than 100 million consumers purchased Jonas Bonnier
were obvious: our books, read our magazines and President & CEO, Bonnier AB
newspapers, and saw our films and TV Stockholm, March 2010
1. The audience programs last year. Tens of thousands of
The media have traditionally aimed to advertisers used us as a channel to convey
give the public what it wants. Paradoxi- their messages. Practically all of these
cally, at the same time the assumption has buyers, viewers, readers and advertisers
been that the public didn’t really know were connected to the Internet for much
what it wanted, and that the media should of the year. The digitization we spoke of
provide what it thought would be appro- for so long had already happened, and it
5

6. Business Idea
We Create, Select and Refine a
World of Knowledge and Stories.
Vision
To Continously Reinvent
the Art of Publishing.
6

7. We plan for generations,
not for quarters.
Commitment
of a Family
Company
We’re creating businesses We’re in media. Adapting to
and organizations around Passion for Power of the changing market conditions
people, not the other way Publishing Individual is our inherited strength,
around. innovation is our focus.
Freedom
Core of Speech
Values
Strategic We believe that a public ongoing,
pluralistic conversation is the
Statements foundation of a democracy.
Prioritized strategic objectives (0–10 years)
We are the most attractive We always seek profitable We believe that a close rela-
employer in the market to growth. Development and tionship and understanding
entrepreneurial, skillful indi- improvement of existing of our customers’ needs and
viduals who want to work in activities are part of the behavior are critical to our
media. mission. success.
7

8. Books
Breakthrough for
Digital Books
Rapid digitization and its unavoidable consequences, including growing pressures on
copyright laws, were prominent themes of 2009 within the book publishing industry.
After a quarter-century of progress, 2009 was a breakthrough year for digital books,
above all in the U.S. For Bonnier Books, profits were the best ever.
At less than 2 percent of the total Ameri- The growing trend towards fewer, domi- Ullstein, Piper, and Hörbuch Hamburg
can book market, the number of digital nant bestsellers also continued, with registered record profits. Taken together,
books is still relatively low. But with 200 Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series, along this enabled the German publishing group
percent growth, it is expanding quickly. with Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol, con- to report its largest profits ever.
After taking the lead in 2009 with its e- quering the world.
reader, Kindle, Amazon reported it had Bonnier Publishing experienced the im-
sold more e-books than printed books on Bonnier Books registered its largest profit pact of the recession in the U.S. and the
Christmas Day. Greater digitization has ever thanks to the success of publishing U.K., where bookstores were restrained in
also meant that print-on-demand books groups in Germany, Sweden and Norway. their purchases. Under the direction of the
have taken off on a global scale. This was due to a strong and more con- group’s new CEO, Richard Johnson, strong
centrated publishing calendar, and to cost-saving measures have been imple-
These technological developments pose increased efficiency in production and mented as the publishing houses have
challenges to current copyright laws. The organization. increasingly coordinated their production
strongest such challenge in 2009 was and sales organizations. Autumn in the
Google’s legal settlement with American The Swedish Bonnierförlagen group re- U.K., Piccolia in France and Five Mile
authors and publishers allowing Google ported very positive results following its Press in Australia, with the mass market
to scan books with the aim of making all extensive restructuring in 2008, includ- as their primary distribution channel,
published and unpublished works digi- ing enormous successes with titles such have each been affected by the weak mar-
tized. Originally the settlement legally as Lars Kepler’s The Hypnotist and Dan ket, though to a lesser extent.
bound all copyright owners worldwide Brown’s The Lost Symbol. Herta Müller,
who had sales in the U.S., but after enor- winner of the 2009 Nobel Prize in litera- In 2009 Finland-based Tammi expe-
mous pressure from interested parties, ture, was also among the year’s highlights. rienced a shrinking book publishing
the settlement now applies only to Anglo- Together these contributed to a growth market, along with cutbacks in education
Saxon countries. in market share for Bonnierförlagen in spending. Despite significant cost-saving
a market that contracted in comparison and efficiency measures, new ventures
The global recession had a strong impact with the previous year. The strong growth have been launched, and the newly ac-
on book publishing in 2009. The economic of the online bookstore Adlibris continued quired readmi.fi has become an important
downturn dealt serious blows to consumer through 2009, while new operations in addition within the world of non-fiction.
markets, such as in the U.S. and England, Finland, Norway and Denmark were able
where retail sales declined sharply. Even to meet projected targets.
in countries such as Sweden and Finland, Net Sales Bonnier Books
where sales are normally strong in part In the two years following its merger, MSEK
due to the pricing pressures of high-vol- Cappelen Damm secured its position as 10,000
ume sales channels, book publishing mar- Norway’s largest publishing group. The
kets have seen negative growth. In Norway Norwegian market remained stable, with 8,000
and Germany, on the other hand, markets Cappelen Damm by far the most success-
performed well. ful publishing house. The group continued 6,000
its successes within educational materials,
Globally, several long-term trends contin- increasing its market share while develop- 4,000
ued in 2009: Children’s books registered ing new digital learning tools.
strong sales, fiction sales remained stable 2,000
and non-fiction sales declined. Despite In Germany, Carlsen Verlag achieved
the recession and growing digitization, enormous success with Stephenie Meyer’s 0
the supply and consumption of books re- Twilight series, which sold more than 5.4 2007 2008 2009
mained relatively stable. million copies. Even the publishing houses
See pages 40–41 for more financial information.
8

9. *
According to industry analysts, some 300 to 500 different
e-readers will be launched in 2010. In order to meet the
content demand, Bonnier launched the e-reader and web
store Letto in February.
9

10. 10

11. Books
Pär Svärdson
The Enthusiast
A fierce competitor with a passion for sailing, Pär Svärdson has a knack for knowing
which way the winds will blow. The CEO of Adlibris, the Nordic region’s largest online
bookstore, his enthusiasm has taken him far, both as a sailor and a leader.
“I guess I’ve always seen Adlibris as a “On the one hand, it’s always negative for Adlibris used to say: “Satisfied customers
kind of sport,” says Pär Svärdson, CEO of us if fewer books are sold,” Svärdson says. are our only form of marketing.” Does this
Adlibris, the Nordic online bookstore and “On the other hand, the crisis has caused still hold true?
an avid sailor. “And like any sailing race, an accelerated change in consumer be-
we’ve always had very clear competitors.” havior, and when the market recovers we “According to one survey from a few years
hope more people will have discovered the ago, we received the most customer rec-
The rest of the world may be talking about advantages of shopping online. I think the ommendations of any Swedish company
crisis and recession. But not Svärdson. recession will prove to be good for us.” after Ikea. And I still believe that satisfied
customers who recommend us to their
“In 2009 we had our greatest profits ever: In February of 2009, Adlibris moved into friends are an unbeatable marketing chan-
an increase of nearly 20 percent over the Bonnier’s historic publishing house in nel. But clearly we do market ourselves,
previous year,” he says. “In fact, we’ve per- Stockholm. especially in other Bonnier press publica-
formed better with every succeeding year, tions. We’ve also had advertisements on
both in terms of sales and profits.” Can you preserve your unique corporate TV4 and will soon do the same with MTV3
culture after moving in with Bonnier- in Finland.”
This success can be attributed in part to förlagen?
extreme cost consciousness. At least once Is the long-tail economic model – selling
a year, Adlibris implements an extensive “I definitely think so. Naturally we col- large numbers of single items – still work-
set of cost-saving measures. This could laborate with the publishing houses in the ing for Adlibris?
mean anything from changing suppliers building, but we keep to our own area and
of pens to compelling executives to pres- have substantially lower gross margins “Definitely. We have 3.5 million titles
ent their ideas on ways to operate more than those within the publishing opera- to choose from. Of these we sold about
efficiently. And while the rest of the in- tions. It’s a delicate balance, but I’d say 550,000 in 2009, which is just over 15 per-
dustry checks into expensive hotels when that despite having nicer offices now, we’re cent. Half of these sold only a single copy.
the next book fair comes around, Adlibris still Adlibris.” It’s a strange thought that a huge number
stays in a youth hostel. of the books we sell will never be sold by
Today Adlibris is present in four coun- us again.”
“We have our fingers in everything,” tries: Sweden, Norway, Finland and since
Svärdson says. “I confess that Ikea and mid-2008, Denmark. How is business? Five years have passed since Bonnier be-
H&M serve as role models in this respect. came a majority shareholder in Adlibris.
They also manage to keep costs very low.” “Books sales have dropped dramatically The day after the agreement was signed,
in Finland over the past year, whereas Svärdson took a test run and bought the
Ikea and H&M are successful Swedish Denmark and Norway have performed boat of his dreams: a 40-foot Arcona. It
companies that have in some ways always strongly. But 80 percent of our sales still was in November. In a raging snowstorm.
behaved as if the economic crisis was al- come from Sweden.” That’s an enthusiast.
ready under way. Like Adlibris.
11

12. Broadcasting & Evening Paper
Fewer Ads,
More Channels
In 2009, people watched more TV than ever before. Despite a decrease in revenue from
advertising, the industry benefitted from expansion – 245 new channels launched in
Europe alone. TV4 Group saw an increase in viewers during the year.
In the U.K. and the U.S., as well as in In the U.K., several large Web TV projects ership in the age 12-59 demographic. MTV
France, Germany, Italy and Spain, TV are under way. There, as in Scandinavia, Media, meanwhile, maintained its share of
advertising markets experienced one of public service has had a powerful influence just over 40 percent of viewers aged 15-44.
their toughest years ever. Within the EU, (BBC Iplayer had more that 100 million
estimates show the TV industry lost nearly viewings in December 2009). Elsewhere, C More, a provider of sport and film chan-
12 percent of its revenues in 2009. But de- the Web TV service attracting the most nels in the Nordic countries, was acquired
spite sagging advertising sales and a his- admirers is U.S.-based Hulu, owned by at the end of 2008. Its operations have
torically weak overall economy, new chan- the media giants NBC, News Corporation exceeded expectations, entering 2010 with
nels showed promising growth. Some 245 and Disney. The number of Hulu visitors more than 1 million subscribers.
new channels emerged in Europe alone. is nearing the 50 million mark, a growth
level that resulted in demand for more Thomas Mattsson took over in March as
The companies performing best in 2009 than 1 billion viewings per month — an editor-in-chief of Expressen. During his
were likely those with multiple sources of increase of 400 percent in one year). And first year he has gradually renewed and
revenue, thanks to different types of TV most signs point toward increasing com- developed the newspaper’s editorial con-
content offered via different distribution petition over the coming years. We are tent. Although the circulation of evening
channels. While advertising sales remain now taking the next step in the evolution newspapers has declined the past several
key despite the crisis, consumer and dis- of media, into a truly digital decade. Have years, Expressen has exceeded projections
tribution revenues have become increas- we reached a true paradigm shift at last? in terms of both readership and circula-
ingly important. And new services are ex- tion. On weekends it now has more read-
pected to further increase these revenues In early autumn of 2008, the financial ers than its competitor, Aftonbladet.
in the future. What the industry called a crisis and recession were already unavoid-
“year of crisis” was the opposite in the eyes able facts. So the dramatic loss in advertis- A collaboration between Expressen and
of consumers. Never before had consum- ing revenues for TV4 Group, MTV Media TV4, including shared ventures and opera-
ers watched so much TV. and Expressen in January of 2009 was no tions within mobile and Internet-based
surprise. However, significant questions services, along with events and sales, was
In parallel with increased access to Web remained: How far could they fall, and also launched during the year.
TV and IPTV, more people will naturally how long would the recession last? Though
shift away from traditional TV. This is difficult to predict, the answers were cru- Net Sales Bonnier Broadcasting
likely to be the next major transition for cial to revising our original plans for 2009. & Evening Paper
media companies, despite the fact that, MSEK
with the Winter Olympics and the World All three business units implemented 10,000
Cup in soccer, 2010 has the potential to be cost-saving measures in relation to their
an extremely strong year. original budgets, but a decision was 8,000
made that this would not happen at the
“Crisis” was the word on everyone’s lips expence of viewership and circulation 6,000
when describing 2009. But this was not targets. The TV channels maintained
due to any lack of innovation. In 2009 their relatively aggressive programming 4,000
non-linear TV grew from oddity to mass- schedules, although it was clear early on
market phenomenon, from threat to op- that we would not be paid in full for all our 2,000
portunity. Today 55 percent of viewers viewers. In total, average TV viewership
watch Web TV. All major companies have increased both in Sweden and Finland, 0
launched on-demand services and hopes primarily among younger viewers. TV4 2007 2008 2009
for advertising revenues are on the rise. Group increased its viewer share and for
the first time captured 30 percent of view- See pages 40–41 for more financial information.
12

13. *
Microphone used for Swedish Idol on TV4. With viewer-
ship of 58 percent among 12–59 year olds for the final
program, Idol is Sweden’s biggest music contest in all
categories.
13

14. 14

15. Broadcasting & Evening Paper
Michael Grimborg
The Risk-taker
Director of Sales at TV4, Michael Grimborg thrives on challenge. An avid photographer
with a strong interest in people, he also happens to be Sweden’s largest seller of Chinese
electric bicycles.
Crisis breeds creativity. The question is everyday affairs for Grimborg and his col- “With Idol, we’ve worked to extend and
whether the need for creativity has ever leagues in 2009. deepen our channels toward different
been as acute as in 2009. Within the TV customers,” he says. “It could be Läkerol
market, advertising revenues dropped “The reason we work with these types of breath mints, which has the rights to use
by 15 percent as large customers nearly companies is that we believe their sales the brand in retail stores, Viking Line,
ceased to advertise altogether. could increase with a bit of incentive,” he which has Idol boat cruises featuring the
says. “And in every case where we help competition’s artists or telephone opera-
“That’s just how it was,” says Michael to increase their sales, we become deeply tor Tele2, which offers its subscribers the
Grimborg, director of sales at TV4. “A involved in their businesses. I get text chance to download the winning song.
number of customers, who would have messages from the Swedish clothing chain And we can offer our customers exposure
accounted for SEK 300 million in revenues Dressmann telling me how many pairs of via TV, Internet, mobile phones, shopping
in our budget, paid us nothing.” underwear they sold yesterday.” center tours and live performances.”
Something had to be done. This is where While TV advertising revenues decreased What was the biggest development in tele-
electric bicycles enter the picture. dramatically during the past year, TV4 vision in 2009?
managed to increase its total share from
“I constantly read about two things: health 53 to 55 percent. At the same time, the “TV4 Play and other media players brought
and the environment,” says Grimborg. number of new domestic customers grew multi-platform TV to life. What viewers
“From there it’s just a small step to bicy- from 135 to 150. How did this happen? miss on TV, they watch online now.”
cles. I ended up contacting Trendimport,
an importer of electric bicycles from “We’re great at holding client meetings,” What was significant about TV4’s collabo-
China, and the pieces fell into place.” says Grimborg. “In 2008 our sales staff ration with Expressen?
held 27,000 client meetings; in 2009 it
Together with Trendimport, he created the came to more than 32,000. On top of this, “That we can allow our customers to offer
brand Lifebike, today owned by TV4. He we have great sales tools and methods, additional products through the 13,000
signed a three-year contract with the com- and not least, passionate salespeople.” retailers of Expressen. In terms of adver-
pany that gives Trendimport exposure on tising, TV4 and Expressen also helped
television and TV4 in turn receives higher It wasn’t for nothing that Grimborg was each other to serve new customers.”
payments as more bicycles are sold. named Sweden’s Most Influential Media
Sales Executive of 2009 by industry news- What is your next joint-venture project?
“The first year was mainly focused on paper Resumé. TV4, for its part, received
building the brand and its distribution the distinction of Best Media of the Year “To collect old refrigerators and replace
network,” he says. “But in a few years’ for its comprehensive solutions for adver- them with more environmentally friendly
time, it may turn out to be quite lucrative.” tisers on various platforms. TV4’s Idol con- ones. In this case, we’ll collaborate with
cept is perhaps the best example. one manufacturer, one retailer and one
Similar types of joint ventures became waste-management company.”
15

16. Magazines
Historic Ad Loss
for Magazines
Magazines had one of their most difficult years ever in 2009. Not just because
magazines are on their way to being wiped out by a digital tidal wave. A rapid economic
decline also exposed flaws in a business model based primarily on one source of
revenue: advertisements, something felt even by Bonnier.
The recent decline of global advertising in markets where readers have long been Bonnier Publications also carried out sev-
is the most drastic change ever seen by accustomed to paying just a few dollars eral cost-saving measures, partly through
magazine publishers. In the U.S., the for a yearly subscription. The solution that the elimination of certain licensed titles in
world’s largest market for magazines, con- most publishers seem to envision involves Denmark. The advertising crisis in Russia
sumer magazines advertising decreased expanding their assortment of events, was most challenging of all, while Finnish
more than 25 percent. In many other websites, advertorials and other associ- operations positively surprised the mar-
countries, the decline was even sharper. ated ventures. ket with the launch of a new title: Evita.
even in countries whose GNP continued to Idényt and Benjamin Media are now fully
grow, magazine advertising sales simply At this point magazine publishers have owned subsidiaries. Especially notable
collapsed. concluded that websites will not replace among the year’s bright spots is Illustreret
print magazines. Instead, websites are Videnskab (Science Illustrated), which
During the boom years leading up to the seen as just one of the new, minor sources saw stable growth during the year.
crisis, an unusually large number of maga- of revenue that will support advertising
zines were launched in a multitude of mar- revenues, or as a marketing channel for Circulation figures for Bonnier Tidskrifter
kets. For many publishers this increase in subscription sales. However, many have in Sweden exceeded those of 2008, while
competition only compounded a number high hopes for the new e-readers that are the decline in advertising was met with
of growing problems. The magazine mar- now being released on the market, and for cost-saving measures and reorganiza-
ket, however, differs from other media the opportunity they present for entirely tion. Ownership in Spoon Publishing was
markets in that several business models digital magazines. increased, and contract-publishing opera-
coexist, sometimes even within the same tions had a strong year. Even M-magasin
market segment. This means that certain For Bonnier, 2009 was a year in which and crossword publishing operations
publishing houses, which had established the recession gradually grew into a full- surprised positively. Stockholm City was
primarily subscription-driven titles, were fledged print advertising crisis. The mar- added to Bonnier Tidskrifter’s portfolio
hardly affected by the economic crisis, ket for magazines suffered especially hard in August, and a plan implemented in au-
while those surviving on advertising rev- due to an overabundance of titles already tumn will have the newspaper in the black
enues suffered dramatically. The effects of on the market after several years of boom- within the near future.
the crisis therefore vary significantly. ing magazine sales. During the year we
began to see an expected purging of com-
The big question for markets where peting titles in our home markets, both in
advertising-based business models are Scandinavia and the U.S. Net Sales Bonnier Magazines
dominant, as in the U.S., Russia and much MSEK
of Asia, is whether advertising revenues We saw a decline of 25-30 percent in ad- 10,000
will return, or whether the business model vertising volumes from 2008. For the U.S.
itself must change. magazine publishing industry, which is 8,000
significantly more dependent on advertis-
Many magazine industry analysts in the ing revenues than Scandinavian markets, 6,000
U.S. contend that publishers will have to this had a big effect on total revenues.
cease basically giving away their maga- Nonetheless, Bonnier Corporation man- 4,000
zines to readers and begin charging for aged the decline by extensive cost-saving
subscriptions. There is almost complete measures and by increasing market shares 2,000
consensus around the principle that within a number of segments. Several
publishers will need to charge for digital key acquisitions of individual titles were 0
editions of their magazines as they are made, expanding the overall portfolio with 2007 2008 2009
launched. But few believe it is possible to magazines such as Flying, Boating and
definitively begin to charge for magazines Popular Photography. See pages 40–41 for more financial information.
16

17. *
In Scandinavia, Bonnier is a leading publisher of women’s
and shelter magazines. The oldest is the Swedish Damer-
nas Värld (Ladies’ World) which started in 1940, and the
youngest is the Finnish Evita, launched in 2009.
17

18. 18

19. Magazines
Sue Gilman
The Traveler
Few people have seen as much change as Sue Gilman, group publisher of Bonnier Travel
Group – yet, 2009 took her by surprise. Now she begins to see light at the end of the tunnel.
“Our business has actually been changing discount the importance of what we do When we help bring visitors to a destina-
for quite awhile,” says Sue Gilman, group editorially,” she says. “By continuing to tion, we bring economic life as well. It’s not
publisher of Bonnier Travel Group, which make travel seem attractive, we’re deliver- just pretty, it’s important.”
includes ISLANDS, Spa, Caribbean Travel ing a whole package to our partners. We’re
+ Life and Resorts & Great Hotels. “With not just selling an ad, we’re reinforcing the Looking ahead, Gilman sees an industry
the advent of the Internet, people could industry’s value to the culture as a whole.” that has irrevocably changed. “The fact
suddenly control their own travel destiny, is, our business will never be what it was
and they didn’t need print in the same way In 2009, Gilman put her focus on find- five or ten years ago — things will be dif-
they once did.” The worsening economic ing new solutions to the age-old issue of ferent going forward. But I’m beginning
climate added to the problem. “We saw how to connect advertisers with readers. to see light at the end of the tunnel. People
a noticeable slowing down in the second “Our primary aim was to create custom are starting to travel again. When people
half of 2008, due to the simple fact that programs that intermix all sorts of media are traveling, we will sell magazines and
people weren’t traveling,” she says. “Then, options — not just print but events, televi- advertising; it’s when people don’t travel
in 2009, our customers watched their sion, web offerings. This is the new reality: that our customers become paralyzed.”
business fall by double digits.” If you’re not bringing clients these kinds of
options, you’re not selling, simple as that.” “The important lesson we’ve learned from
The impact on the Travel Group was this is that we need to be responsive. We
profound. “Print was hit first, and most And they’ve taken things even further, get- can’t set things in stone; we have to react
dramatically. What was interesting ting involved in client branding. “Before, to things that are happening, and create
was that the impact was felt across the we gave clients a platform for their mes- solutions quickly and efficiently,” she says.
board — from small destinations to big sage; now we’re helping them create and
international hotel chains, everyone was define that message in entirely new ways,” “Selling used to be programmed: Budgets
affected.” Gilman had seen recessions she says. “Viral marketing, social media — came out in the fall, and you’d sell in the
before, but nothing quite like this. “After those terms didn’t exist five years ago. And fall. Now it’s an ongoing process — you sell
9/11, we felt like there was leeway; after there are things coming down the pike year-round, and you create opportunities
time went by, things would get back to that we haven’t even thought of yet. Our when customers need them. Our plan-
normal. But this recession has been so challenge lies in teaching our clients how ning cycle has become shorter because
protracted — here we are in 2010 and it’s to cohesively market themselves across a our customer’s forecasting cycle has be-
still going on. There are no short-term new array of possibilities.” come shorter. That’s what they need. And
fixes in this environment; people need through all of this, we have stayed true
something holistically different.” Another challenge is keeping her team mo- to our niches, and will continue to do so.
tivated at a time when everyone is working There is no substitute for that.”
To keep perspective on the market in a harder for smaller results. “I try to remind
broader sense, well beyond individual my team about the importance of what we
clients’ needs, proved key to navigating do, especially in tough times,” she says.
the choppy economic waters. “I cannot “Tourism affects people’s livelihoods.
19

20. Business Press
Lower Earnings for
Business Press
The trend was clear: Earnings dropped for business press, but readership rose in 2009,
a time of economic uncertainty. At the same time, the industry’s two largest newspapers
– the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal – have been engaged in a war on several
fronts. Meanwhile, Bonnier Business Press was hit by the biggest loss in ad revenues in
modern times.
The battle for business readers in 2009 In 2009 advertising revenues for Bonnier tured in the first quarter, ending the year
was fought far and wide. The Wall Street Business Press suffered their largest de- profitably. Croatian daily newspaper Di-
Journal advanced its position in Europe cline in modern times. Thanks to vigorous ena, Latvian business newspaper Dienas
with a new strategy that includes an inte- cost-cutting efforts, along with extensive Bizness and business.hr in Croatia were
grated online and print editorial office, a restructuring within Central & Eastern sold during the year. A new CEO was ap-
clearer news focus on the web and fewer Europe (CEE) operations, the end results pointed for the Bulgarian market in Octo-
but higher-profile articles. The same mod- of these revenue losses were minimized ber 2009, while a number of acquisitions
el was launched the past summer in Asia. enabling Bonnier Business Press to record were carried out in Estonia and Poland.
a positive, if modest, profit margin.
The Pearson-owned Financial Times The companies within Medicine Today
countered by reducing its subscription DI Group in Sweden also suffered from International (MTI) have felt the impact
price in the U.S. to half its U.K. price, a dwindling advertising sales. Even di.se of the economic recession, though to a
strategy widely seen to have produced was affected but continued to deliver considerably lesser extent than the busi-
positive results. Even the U.K.-based positive earnings with healthy profit ness press sector as a whole. Advertising
Economist reported successful American margins. The year 2009 saw the launch revenues decreased by just 6 percent from
sales in the wake of the financial crisis. of summer publications for DI Weekend the previous year. A Slovenian medical
and the launch of monthly magazine DI newspaper was launched early in the year,
In its second year under the ownership Dimension. Gunilla Herlitz was succeeded adding a seventh country to the list of MTI
of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corpora- as editor-in-chief by Peter Fellman, for- publications. A substantial investment in
tion, The Wall Street Journal in the U.K. merly managing editor, while the post of event management also began during the
heavily reduced subscription price to 95 CEO was assumed by Casten Almqvist, latter part of 2009.
British pounds. The competition caused also CEO for the business area.
the newspaper heavy earnings losses. On January 1, 2010, all operations within
Total revenues for the Financial Times In Denmark Børsen suffered as well, CEE and MTI were unified under a com-
dropped by 30 percent during the initial losing approximately 30 percent of its ad- mon management company, Bonnier
nine months of the year and, by the turn of vertising revenues. However, it managed Business Press International, with Anders
2010, management was predicting sales of to secure its market share in a shrinking Eriksson as CEO.
subscriber-based online and print content market, and circulation continued to grow,
will outpace advertising revenues within to 74,000 by year-end. Cost reductions
two years. compensated somewhat for the drop in Net Sales Bonnier Business Press
advertising revenues. Børsen, which pub- MSEK
In the U.S. Business Week suffered acute lishes no Saturday print edition, instead 5,000
economic problems during the year, allow- launched a digital Saturday edition re-
ing Bloomberg to purchase the newspaper stricted to subscribers, using technology 4,000
at a bargain price. previously used for digital magazines only.
3,000
Online, 2009 was the year of pay walls. For operations within CEE, the effects of
The signals sent by News Corporation the crisis were dramatic. Advertising rev- 2,000
were unmistakable, giving others cour- enues declined by 45 percent from the pre-
age to follow suit. Wall Street Journal vious year, and extensive organizational 1,000
walled off more of its content, followed changes along with cost-saving measures
by the Economist. At the same time skep- were carried out in all companies. Estonia, 0
tics noted surveys showing 80 percent of Russia and Slovenia recorded profits for 2007 2008 2009
respondents would consider abandoning 2009 despite substantially reduced rev-
sites that began to charge for content. enues. Operations in Poland were restruc- See pages 40–41 for more financial information.
20

21. *
With publication of business dailies and websites in 11
countries, Bonnier Business Press reaches more than 1
million readers daily and 2.1 million site visitors per week.
21

22. 22

23. Business Press
Tomasz Siemieniec
The Savior
Tomasz Siemieniec, managing editor of Poland’s Puls Biznesu, saw the warning signals
of an approaching recession and reacted immediately. As advertising revenues began to
fall, the newspaper was well prepared for a crisis.
The year that passed made it painfully has remained unaffected by the global (as in “fit for crisis”) and gave concrete
clear that we live in a global economy. No economic crisis. advice on how companies and private indi-
country and no market remain unaffected viduals could manage the crisis.
by a weak or severed link in the chain. The In January of 2009 the editorial manage-
fate of Sweden’s top banks is determined ment of Puls Biznesu realized that the “All crises come to an end,” says
on the other side of the Baltic Sea, just as current economic situation was unstable. Siemieniec. “When revenues took their
the country’s largest industrial corpora- It began with the contraction of the con- deepest dive we were able to convince
tions are entirely dependent upon what struction industry, and a drop in private employees, management and owners that
happens in China, India and Brazil. consumption followed. Advertising sales we would survive the adversity together. It
suddenly came to a halt. was just a matter of rolling up our sleeves,
Poland, a market where Bonnier Business working harder and saving on all imagin-
Press has operated since 1997, has demon- “As journalists we understood the warn- able expenses.”
strated more plainly than any other coun- ing signals early on and decided to act
try in Europe that economies with sound quickly,” says Siemieniec. “Within a week One year later, Siemieniec can look back
national financial policies and a strong we’d begun cutting costs across the entire on a period when Puls Biznesu proved to
underlying demand are able to rebound operation.” its staff, readers, advertisers and owners
most quickly from a recession. that the newspaper could weather a severe
In the restructuring that followed storm. Competition is intense on the Pol-
“It’s true we live in a global economy, but Siemieniec, who had worked as a reporter ish market for daily business newspapers:
what happened to Lehman Brothers last and news chief, stepped in as managing There are six, of which Puls Biznesu is No. 3.
autumn happened on Wall Street – not editor. His first task was to launch the
here in Warsaw,” says Tomasz Siemieniec, most radical cost-saving program in the But the editorial management is forging
managing editor of Puls Biznesu. “We’ve 13-year history of the newspaper. expansive plans. In the coming year they
been affected by the crisis, but everything plan to increase the newspaper’s market
in Poland continues to grow despite this.” When the dust settled, editorial staff had share, to continue to target small business
been slimmed down from 80 to 45 mem- owners and to further enhance their edito-
In contrast to its neighboring countries bers, supplements had been combined or rial content. The market has rebounded
in the Baltic, Poland’s economic growth eliminated, contracts with printers had quickly.
was not inflamed by questionable interest been renegotiated and prognoses revised
rate policies. Not a single Polish bank has with 30-percent reductions in advertising “2010 will be an eventful year for the Pol-
applied for a government bailout. House- revenues. ish market,” says Siemieniec. “Economic
hold and corporate debt are relatively subsidies from the EU are on the rise,
low. Instead, economic growth is driven The next step was to lead the way out of we’re having local and presidential elec-
primarily by a flourishing export indus- the economic crisis – both for employees tions simultaneously, and the Warsaw
try and a rise in living standards. Still, it and readers. In one article series, Puls stock market is planning several large IPOs.”
would be impossible to claim that Poland Biznesu introduced the concept of “crisfit”
23

24. Entertainment
Big Moves for Movies
The film industry thrives in times of crisis, the saying goes. 2009 – the year 3D films
proved they were here to stay – was no exception. Swedish movie theaters had a record
year in 2009.
In the 1930s Busby Berkeley’s showgirls industry’s battle against illegal download- film of 2009, however, was not local but
sang “We’re in the Money” as an ironic ing, and the Pirate Bay trial in Sweden the Oscar-winner Slumdog Millionaire,
juxtaposition to the long breadlines of the sent ripples around the world. to which SF owned the distribution rights
Great Depression. In 2009, movie bosses for the Nordic markets. SF maintained its
from the U.S. to Europe could have sung Successful 3D releases require digitized position as the Nordic countries’ leading
the same song. In the U.S., the year ended cinemas, however. All Norwegian cinemas distributor of DVD films.
with record figures – USD 10.7 billion in will become fully digitized within two
recorded earnings made 2009 the indus- years, and the transformation is under Europe’s Intellectual Property Rights
try’s best year ever. Ticket sales increased way throughout large parts of Europe. Enforcement Directive (IPRED) and the
by nearly 10 percent and attendance by 3 During the first half of 2009, the number Pirate Bay trial in Sweden had positive
percent compared to 2008. of digitized cinemas increased by 43 per- effects on both rentals and sales of DVD
cent in the U.K., 40 percent in Denmark, films – not only for SF, but for the Home-
And new films blazed across big screens 79 percent in Russia, 129 percent in Italy, enter film clubs and Discshop e-stores
the world over. After only three weeks 136 percent in France, 150 percent in as well. But video-on-demand sales via
James Cameron’s Avatar reported earn- Sweden and by 224 percent in Spain. The SF Anytime’s PC platform failed to meet
ings of more than USD 1 billion. Other largest percentage increase occurred in expectations despite IPRED legislation.
international box-office hits included Up, the Czech Republic, where the number of Meanwhile, sales via IPTV (TV via broad-
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, digital cinemas grew from two to 25 with- band Internet) showed strong growth.
New Moon, Ice Age 3, 2012, and Angels in the course of six months – an increase
and Demons. of 1,150 percent. The music industry has suffered more
than the film industry in terms of illegal
Several of the year’s blockbusters were For Swedish cinemas, 2009 was a record downloading. At the end of the year, af-
screened at select cinemas in 3D, which year as well. A strong and broad selection, ter several years of lost revenues and an
contributed significant earnings, since including an unusually successful year for overall contraction of the music market,
each ticket costs a few dollars more. In Swedish films was largely responsible for ownership of the record company Bonnier
addition to Avatar, both Up and Monsters the positive results. Amigo Music Group was sold to the com-
vs. Aliens were big 3D hits. pany’s board of directors.
Swedish films accounted for over 30
According to major industry players in- percent of total box-office sales, a unique
cluding James Cameron, Steven Spielberg phenomenon in modern times. Despite Net Sales Bonnier Entertainment
and Peter Jackson, 3D is more than a the biggest selection ever of films avail- MSEK
trend – it is here to stay. A number of new able across different viewing platforms, 5,000
films in 2010 will be shown in 3D as well audiences showed a growing interest in
as in the traditional format. And old favor- viewing films in their original screening 4,000
ites such as the original Toy Story films format. The quality, accessibility and gen-
will be re-released in flashy new 3D attire. eral film experience have all improved and 3,000
must constantly be developed if cinemas
Now 3D technology also has become part are to maintain their powers of attraction. 2,000
of a new strategy in the struggle against So far, SF Bio and SF Kino succeeded in
illegal downloading. Because it is impos- meeting this challenge. 1,000
sible to download 3D versions of films,
cinemas have found an effective way to Svensk Filmindustri (SF) produces films 0
attract audiences with an experience they in all the Nordic countries, releasing some 2007 2008 2009
can’t have at home on their sofas. In other 30 local films per year with SF as producer
respects 2009 was marked by the film or co-financier. The most successful SF See pages 40–41 for more financial information.
24

25. *
The film Avatar was a breakthrough for 3D technology at
the cinema. More than 31,500 3D filmgoers came to SF Bio
movie theaters on the opening weekend alone.
25

26. 26

27. Entertainment
Antti Toiviainen
The Bestseller
Antti Toiviainen, CEO of the Finnish film distribution company FS, looks back at the best
year in the company’s history. After 12 months of large audiences drawn by high-profile,
high-quality films, he and FS emerge from the economic crisis stronger than ever.
Trends come and go. Technological revo- For these films, FS co-finances the entire decade’s technological revolution, the fate
lutions turn our lives upside down. New production process – from film proposal of the film industry has been determined
competitors appear out of nowhere and to marketing. mainly by illegal downloading, DVD sales
instantly transform the market. Some and digital distribution.
things, however, remain constant. Like the “Finland is a small market, but interest for
fact that quality pays off. And that films domestic films is very high among audi- But although these developments have pri-
are best seen at the cinema. ences,” says Toiviainen. “It’s possible to marily benefitted retailers and file-sharing
make money on Finnish films, but it can pirates, the next chapter of the story may
“In our business, we actually haven’t felt be very risky. It’s critical to make the right be to the advantage of the cinema: 3D film.
much of the recession, since 2009 was a decisions during the production process.” For the film industry, physical distribution
year in which we distributed great films is costly and cumbersome. Most often, it
that attracted large audiences,” says Antti One example of a local box office hit is requires copying and transporting up to
Toiviainen, CEO of FS Film Oy in Helsinki. Haarautuvan rakkauden talo, or House 65 pounds of 30-millimeter film. But with
of Branching Love. Written and produced digital films – burned on discs and pro-
The Finland-based company, a wholly by Mika Kaurismäki, the elder of two jected onto specially adapted film screens
owned subsidiary of Svensk Filmindustri, is filmmaking brothers who are legendary – the cinema experience is improved while
purely a film distribution company. Toiviain- in Finland, it attracted droves of Finn- costs are reduced.
en and his 30 colleagues annually distribute, ish moviegoers. Audiences of more than
co-produce and market some 350 films. 145,000 watched the story of a newly di- James Cameron’s mega-production,
vorced couple who move back into a house Avatar, was the real breakthrough for 3D
In 2009, 35 films distributed by FS were together while waiting for it to sell. technology both in Finland and Sweden.
screened at cinemas in Finland, with 330 3D also means that fewer titles, such as
titles released on DVD. Distribution con- The box-office success of the Indian Oscar- small independent films directed toward
tracts between Fox and SF, together with winner Slumdog Millionaire serves as niche audiences, will have a greater
locally produced Finnish films, make up further evidence of the maxim that quality chance of appearing on traditional cinema
the core of the company’s business. always pays. screens.
“As a film distributor, it is crucial to divide “But we shouldn’t underestimate the Ice “The new technology is going to transform
the right films into the right channels,” Age effect,” says Toiviainen. “It was seen the entire cinema industry for the better,”
Toiviainen says. “Recent years have been by as many as 390,000 people in Finland, says Toiviainen. “An enhanced cinema
successful for FS because we’ve handled a figure higher than the attendance for the experience offers yet another competi-
commercial risks wisely and constantly final Harry Potter film. Ice Age 3 was in- tive advantage against downloaded and
cut down on costs.” credibly important for our business.” pirated films.”
One or two films a year are produced lo- Moviegoers who pay for their tickets re-
cally for screening in Finnish cinemas. main important, but in the wake of the last
27

28. Morning Paper
Identity Crisis for
Morning Papers
2009 was the year of crisis that broke the backs of several of the world’s oldest morning
newspapers. It was the year that Rupert Murdoch promised to charge for online news sites
and Nicolas Sarkozy gave away free subscriptions to French teenagers. For Bonnier, the
year was a huge challenge for selling ads.
In 2009, financially troubled morning of the World, as early as middle of 2010. Negative advertising trends began to turn
newspapers around the world were being around toward the end of the autumn, and
forced to lay off staff and make cutbacks. As Google CEO Eric Schmidt attempted Sydsvenskan won an array of prizes and
In the U.S. dozens of daily newspapers to calm Murdoch’s nerves, scornful com- distinctions, including the Stora Journal-
were dissolved during the course of the ments were hurled at the billionaire by istpriset (Great Journalist Award), which
year, among them the Rocky Mountain Arianna Huffington, founder of the Huff- it earned for the second consecutive year.
News, which was founded in 1859. ington Post and a symbol of the idea that
online news can be profitable. Bold Printing Group, Bonnier’s printing
Other dailies managed to avoid bankrupt- operations with facilities in Stockholm,
cy by completely revising their business This mudslinging highlights a central Malmö and Borås, underwent a turbulent
models. The Detroit Free Press, for exam- question for the industry: Is it possible to year in the wake of the recession. Cost-
ple, reduced the number of days of publi- earn a profit from traditional newspapers saving measures and personnel reductions
cation while the Seattle Post-Intelligencer at a time when their market share is took place with a continued focus on qual-
converted entirely to online publishing. shrinking and readers increasingly turn to ity production.
free news articles online?
Not even the New York Times Company
succeeded in keeping its head above water: Already by the beginning of 2009 it was
Its losses in just the first fiscal quarter clear the year would pose extreme chal-
amounted to a full USD 75 million. lenges for Bonnier in terms of advertising
sales. And this held true as the advertis-
French president Nicolas Sarkozy took ing crisis spread throughout the market.
the crisis seriously early on, promising a Circulation however remained stable for
bailout package worth EUR 600 million our morning newspapers, and a great deal
in order to save the French newspaper of energy was directed toward cost-saving
publishing industry. The country’s 18- to measures throughout all operations.
24-year-olds were offered a one-year’s
subscription to the daily of their choice – The autumn was especially tumultuous
paid in full by the French taxpayers. for Dagens Nyheter, as comprehensive
organizational changes were made under Net Sales Bonnier Morning Paper
However, the powerbroker who will the leadership of newly appointed CEO MSEK
be most closely associated with morn- and editor-in-chief, Gunilla Herlitz. An 5,000
ing newspapers’ worst year within editorial reorganization process also was
human memory is media mogul Rupert implemented, and suffering advertising 4,000
Murdoch. The billionaire behind me- sales began to rebound during the latter
dia conglomerate News Corporation, part of the year. 3,000
Murdoch repeatedly accused Google and
other search engine operators of being Sydsvenskan, Kristianstadsbladet, Ystads 2,000
“parasites” who “stole” the newspaper’s Allehanda and Trelleborgs Allehanda,
articles. were incorporated into a single publishing 1,000
group, SDS, as of January 2009. Coordina-
In addition to these accusations, he prom- tion efforts continued throughout the year, 0
ised to charge for access to online versions in parallel with cost-saving measures. 2007 2008 2009
of the New York Post, along with British In the spring Richard Frank took over as
newspapers the Sun, the Times and News editor-in-chief of Trelleborgs Allehanda. See pages 40–41 for more financial information.
28

29. *
Bold Printing Group is one of the Nordic region’s leading
newspaper printers. It prints some 850 million news-
papers yearly.
29

30. 30

31. Morning Paper
Gunilla Herlitz
The Lion Tamer
Editor-in-chief and CEO Gunilla Herlitz is set to turn red ink to black. According to
Herlitz, subscriptions are at the heart of business for Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter,
and the biggest challenge is to commercialize web traffic.
No one in Sweden’s media industry could position as the country’s leading national editorial mission however is likely to be
have missed the fact that the country’s big- newspaper and make the company profit- more complicated given the various edi-
gest morning newspaper appointed a new able again.” torial sections, departments and media
CEO and editor-in-chief last autumn. Nor platforms that make up Dagens Nyheter.
did anyone fail to notice that she started There is good reason why Dagens Nyheter Nonetheless, she focuses on keeping
by shaking up the organization, upsetting is compared to a lion. The paper has a things simple.
a sleeping lion of Stockholm’s newspaper- daily readership of some 800,000, every
publishing district. week the website, dn.se, attracts 1.1 mil- The editorial product – both online and in
lion unique visitors and the company print – must deliver comprehensive world
Anything else would have seemed strange. earns billions of Swedish kronor. The lion coverage to its readers.
One of Herlitz’s first decisions was to make that Herlitz is set to tame needs to be-
major layoffs. These opening moves in her come more efficient, more agile and more In practical terms, this requires a strong
new job followed a harsh but obvious logic: profitable. news organization with foreign correspon-
trim costs, cut back services and reduce dents around the world. An editorial page
freelance content. Herlitz the organizer cut her teeth on the that speaks from a strong opinion-setting
editorial floor of Dagens Industri – a tradition; a culture section that is deep
“I discovered a paper in deep financial cri- working environment known for its direct and wide in scope; a sports department
sis,” says Herlitz, gazing through the glass decision making and entrepreneurial cul- that continues to build on its reputation as
doors into Dagens Nyheter’s main edito- ture. This is something Herlitz took with one of Sweden’s best and most knowledge-
rial newsroom. “I also saw an organization her to her new workplace. And when a able; a business section that covers broad
that had serious flaws.” decision needs to be made, she takes pride private financial issues. And a website that
in setting a good example – swiftly and di- continues to compete for the title of Swe-
She describes Dagens Nyheter as an rectly. This is a prerequisite in a company den’s largest news site and differentiates
ocean containing hundreds of small is- where sudden events in the outside world itself from the newspaper’s print editions.
lands with limited communication and can result in a rapid reworking of both the
no strategic awareness. Then a sustained front page and the budget. “The website should give readers the brev-
economic low-pressure front blew in over ity and overview that the printed edition
the entire archipelago. In concrete terms, “Advertising revenues are important for cannot provide,” says Herlitz. “I belong
Dagens Nyheter lost SEK 277 million in the business model of a morning news- in the camp that thinks it is impossible to
advertising revenues during the financial paper, but we must not underestimate the generate revenue for journalistic content
crisis and recorded heavy earnings losses. paid edition,” she says. “The willingness online, even in the future. The challenge
to pay remains strong, and subscription instead lies in increasing and commercial-
“But there are some enormous strengths,” revenues are stable despite fluctuations in izing online traffic.”
Herlitz says. “Dagens Nyheter is Sweden’s the economy.”
largest and most important morning daily.
What we need to do now is strengthen our Herlitz’s financial challenge is clear. Her
31

32. 16 Media Trends
Paulina Modlitba Söderlund and Björn Jeffery from Bonnier Research & Development
identify 16 trends likely to shape the near future. With Twitter in mind, here they are in
140-character tweets each.
Data
Learn your customers’
digital behavior in order
to offer better service.
Those who use their
data best will be the
clear winners.
find meaning and
structur e in data
flows
The Quantified Self
Open Interest is growing for
Stack Filters
tools that help people
The abil
it In a world where a single measure, analyze and
connec y to easily
t differ search generates millions keep track of themselves.
service en
s in a st t of hits, effective filters are
ized wa andard
y - key. Filters remove what’s
New fr is in demand.
amewo unimportant for you.
being c rk
reated. s are
playfulness!
Real Time
Instead of relying on Cloud Backups Social Gaming
Google, we monitor and As long as access to
report on events in real Digitally tend your
connectivity remains garden or feed your
time. Speed and variety limited, we will need to
take precedence over pet – via social media.
store virtual data locally. Social gaming on web-
reflection.
sites like Facebook is
exploding.
32

33. new conditions for
media companies
blet
d Ta Media Market 2.0
s an
ader alls
E-re puters ith Pay W Competition from new
Com ash w ies will
is aw tablet ompan players is forcing media
mark
et
and - More c to charge for . to forge alliances to
The -readers ting pos t
attemp edia produc re
ts
ne we , crea d ia lm
digita enue mode ls a preserve their relevance
uters w me
comp ies for ne v
New re sted.
and customer relation-
t
sibili cts. being te
ships.
produ
physic
al Media
Exp er ienc ty
Inte
rne
e s Back to Reality hen
tici
es a
alu he
re
t of Aut er v t
Phys Thi Intensified competition um fter ink
i ngs
bein cal obje means going back to ons ing a sh: th red-
C ng
g con c ts a ra dc
mak
i nect re basics: New products cha ncial c ty an wn
Like ng them ed onlin and services must cater fina entici lly gr
o
u e uth y, loca de.
you mbrella smarter. , a
whe s tha to consumers’ genuine it a
rain n it’s ibil fair tr
. goin t tell needs. nd
g to a
Geo-service
s
mobilit y
Mobile
Geographical Apps
positioning ity
in digital serv With 3 b Real
ices is fast illi
loads, Ap on+ down- ented e
expanding. Rev Augm ombin
eal your ple’s App
sto eras c
location, you’ll has chan
ged use o re le cam the web
Mobi t from
&
be sent al
what’s happen phones – f cell- n w visu
ing there. fo
from a ca r everything conte lity for ne and
e a t y
rp
to games enter’s level and r nces. Utili ne.
ie o
. exper inment in
enterta
seamlessness
33

34. 2010 – Year of
the E-reader?
If 2009 was the year of the mobile app, then 2010, according to all predictions, will be
the year of the e-reader. But what does this mean for Bonnier?
The major American breakthrough for the of questions about this: ‘Okay, so you have A paperback book is cheap, lightweight,
e-reader came in 2009, when Amazon’s the books, but which device should I buy?’ durable and can be read anywhere with-
Kindle was said to have sold 2 million And we shouldn’t hide the fact that this out worrying about batteries. Why would
units since its introduction. Several com- is a way for us to fuel the rise of a new anyone buy an expensive e-reader?
petitors have since arrived on the scene, market.”
but this year the true battle over market “If I’m waiting for a bus or plane and can
share begins. In January, Apple finally In terms of charging for content, some buy, download and begin reading the exact
released its iPad. For Bonnierförlagen, fear a repeat of the mistakes made by the book I want, right then and there – it gets
these developments will make it possible film and music industries. How can the very interesting. Another advantage is that
to release a wide selection of titles on the same mistakes be avoided? anyone can have all their reference litera-
digital market. ture collected in a single device instead of
“There are differences. For one, music and carrying around a pile of books.”
The discussion so far has been more about films already existed in digital formats and
the device than its content. What will were therefore easily spread online, as op- What is the biggest challenge?
Bonnier do to change this? posed to printed books which require a lot
of extra work to be displayed as e-books,” “To make e-books available in a format
“We have the largest selection on the says Dimert. “Also, authors and publishers that readers want, on the e-readers,
Swedish market, and in 2010 we plan to have a lot more experience now than they smartphones and computers they want to
make it available in e-book format,” says had ten years ago and are less afraid that read them on, and for a price they’re will-
Magnus Dimert, manager for Bonnier- e-books will ruin the market. That said, ing to pay,” says Dimert. “We need to find a
förlagen Konsument. “This includes we need to be quick to develop flexible so-
everything from extremely niched titles to lutions, for example digital watermarking
well-known authors. Starting this year, all technology. We need to make our books
of Bonnierförlagen’s fiction and textbook easy to find, buy and read. The worst thing
titles will be published in digital format. we could do is add loads of digital rights
We’ve also developed digital versions management protection, which makes it
of several hundred titles in our existing much more difficult to get started reading.
catalogue. And, of course, the e-book will We need to have legal alternatives that are
evolve over time. So far, most e-books are better than illegal ones.”
only read in text format, but textbooks can
also be illustrated with moving images One common question is why people
and sound. It will be incredibly exciting to should have to pay for content in the first
follow developments in this area.” place, especially since publishers can
avoid the costs of printing, storage and
In February 2010 Bonnier-owned Adlibris distribution.
launched its e-reader, Letto. That Bonnier
would suddenly launch a hardware device “The largest costs are related not to print-
for the first time in 200 years came as a ing and distribution, but to development
surprise to many. According to Dimert, of content. Certainly, some costs are elimi-
however, it was a natural move. nated, making it possible for us to offer
lower prices for e-books than for printed Magnus Dimert is Bonnierförlagen’s
“By offering the combination of an e- books. But the value-added tax in Sweden manager of digital book develop-
reader and content, we’ll have greater is currently higher for e-books – 25 per- ment and the driving force behind
possibilities to give users a high-quality cent, instead of 6 percent – which adds to the e-reader Letto.
experience,” he says. “We’ve gotten a lot the price.”
34

35. business model that will properly compen- films and so on. At the same time, mobile of an e-book, then our books should be
sate authors over time. We have long ex- phones are evolving extremely rapidly.” available. But this doesn’t mean that we’ll
perience in publishing printed books and stop printing books. The printed book will
cooperating with authors and bookstores, Does this mean that Bonnier has lost its remain the most common reading format
but this is an entirely new product for us. faith in printed books? for a long time to come.”
The market is exploding right now – near-
ly all hardware suppliers are talking about “Not at all. The e-book is a complement
e-readers and portable touch-screen tab- to the printed book. It’s up to us to satisfy
lets that can be used for reading, to watch that need. If someone wants to get a hold
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36. Prizes and Grants
Each year Bonnier and Bonnier-owned companies award prizes and grants worth various
amounts both to employees as well as to members of the public. Among the most well-known
is the Stora Journalistpriset (Great Journalist Award), which has been presented since 1966
and is Sweden’s most prestigious journalism award. A comparable prize is awarded in Finland
and Estonia.
The year 2008 marked the start of the GROW program, which provides Bonnier employees
with the possibility of working in another country for three months. A total of 31 people have
taken advantage of the program so far, and 34 new people will take part in this global ex-
change program in 2010.
Bonnier Sales Awards is a competition established by Bonnier AB management in 2007 to
encourage and reward desirable performance and positive results within the Group’s sales
operations. All sales staff, including sales managers, employed by a Bonnier company can
participate.
Sverker Olofsson Shannon Mendis Juha Tuominen
Sveriges Television, winner of the Great Bonnier Corporation, United States, MTV3, Finland, Field Sales Representa-
Journalist Award participant in the GROW program tive of the Year at Bonnier Sales Awards
“It was an incredibly powerful experi- “My GROW period, three months at “I had a great year last year, and I
ence that’s hard to describe adequately. Bonnier Publications in Helsinki, think the reason is that I try to find
It was a strong confirmation of my meant more to me than words can say. solutions for my customers’ business
journalism skills and my work. I never Everything from launching the new challenges, rather than only selling ads.
thought I would even be considered for Olivia website to experiencing a new Just to be nominated meant a lot to me,
the prize. And the ceremony was also culture, including meeting new people not to mention winning the award. It
wonderful, something to remember within Bonnier and exploring the city motivated me and gave me extra energy
forever. I’ve almost never been greeted of Helsinki. One of the main things to to do my best every day for MTV3. It
with so many warm words and pats on remember is to take it for all it’s worth. made me even more committed to the
the back from so many friends and col- Dance as if no one is watching you even company, too. When we watched video
leagues. When my CEO pointed out that if it’s the silliest dance you’ve ever done. clips of the ceremony afterwards with
my portrait will hang with those of the I met some wonderful people and tried all of the MTV3 sales staff, I’m sure
biggest names in journalism, I under- things I never thought I would. It’s an many of my colleagues thought: ‘I want
stood that this was really, really huge.” experience I will never forget.” to be there next year.’”
36

37. Internal Prizes & Grants: External Prizes & Grants:
Albert Bonnier 100th Anniversary Private Stipend Albert Bonnier Prize for Business Owner of the Year
Susanne Enblom, Ann Eriksson and Carina Söderman, (Dagens Industri)
Bonnierförlagen Bicky Chakraborty, Elite Hotels (2008)
Bonnier Sales Awards (2008) Albert Bonnier Stipend Fund for Swedish Authors
Sales Manager of the Year: Jonas Irebjörk, TV4 Sverige Johannes Anyuru, Anita Goldman, Ulf Peter Hallberg,
Telephone Sales Representative of the Year: Patrick Notaro, Kristian Lundberg and Staffan Söderblom
Bonnier Corp
Juha Tuominen
Field Sales Representative of the Year: , Albert Bonnier Stipend Fund for Young and New
MTV OY Authors
Rookie of the Year: Linn Thyselius, SF Media Johan Jönson, Fausta Marianovic and Malte Persson
Gerard Bonnier Employee Stipend Expressen’s Per Wendel Prize
Nina Ulmaja, Pontus Dahlström and Leena Valtonen, Christian Holmén and Micke Ölander, Expressen
Bonnierförlagen
Gerard Bonnier Essay Prize
GROW 2009 Gunnar D Hansson
Jonas Westin, TV4, Shannon Mendis , Bonnier
Corp, Malin Westman, Bonnier Carlsen, Kristin Mack Alnaes, Gerard Bonnier Poetry Prize
Bonnier Media 2, Maria Lanner, mama, Nia Williams, Helena Eriksson
David Borg, Sydsvenskan, Erik Wannerlid, Spoon, Jorid
Aldrin, Bonnier Tidskrifter, Michael Goesele, Bonnier Maria Bonnier Dahlin Foundation Stipends for
Corp, Sigurd Eriksen, Bonnier Publications, Elizaveta Current Young Swedish Artists
Matusova, Delovoy Peterburg, Lisa Julius, Bonnier Corp, Sofia Bäcklund, Kristina Matousch and Viktor Rosdahl
Christoffer Cederschiöld, SF Bio, Renée Meyer, Weldon
Owen, Gabriella Green, Weldon Owen, Tuuija Kuusela, Albert Bonnier Foundation 100th Anniversary
Tammi, Amie Hrabah, Bonnier Corp, Audrey Bay, Bonnier Stipend Fund
Corp, Michelle Makmann, Bonnier Corp, Päivi Koskinen, Helena Eriksson, Gunna Grähs, Carola Hansson, Gunnar
MTV3, Ylva Lundberg, Homeenter, Mikko Väisanen, MTV3, Harding, Claes Hylinger, Kurt Mälarstedt, Steve Sem-
Maria Brunckhorst Schmidt, Bonnier Publications, Patricia Sandberg, Jan Stolpe and Johan Svedjemark
Schmidt, arsedition, Steffen Trannerup, Bonnier Publica-
tions, Simon Lindberg, dn.se, Kaisa Filppula, Bonnier Publi- Great Journalist Award
cations, Monika Klinar, Finance, Anna Essling, TV4, and Tine Kinga Sandén, Sydsvenskan, Sverker Olofsson,
Lund, Bonnier Publications SVT, Per Hermanrud, TV4, Karin af Klintberg and Jane
Magnusson, SVT
Åke Bonnier Private Foundation 75th anniversary
Stipends and Albert Bonnier Stipend Fund Great Journalist Award, Finland
Martin Blomgren, Dagens Industri, Björn Gunnelöf, Vi i Villa, Katri Makkonen, YLE, Petri Saraste, MTV3, Salla Vuorikoski
Björn Hedensjö, di.se, Thérèse Dyhlén, Bonniers Konsthall, and Jussi Eronen, MTV3, Minna Lindgren, Helsingin Sano-
Charlotte Jenkinson, Allt om Mat mat’s monthly supplement
Tor Bonnier and Albert Bonnier, Jr. Stipends The Bonnier Award, Estonia
Emma Almgren, Sydsvenskan Tryck, Mats Andersson, Tarmo Vahter, Eesti Express
DNEX, Leif Barklund, DNEX, Jan-Olof Bengtsson, Kvälls-
posten, Anna Bäsén, Expressen, Fredrik Cederman, Osterwold Prize of Hörbuch Hamburg
Expressen, Johanna Einarsson, Sydsvenskan, Paula Sundin, Best Male Speaker: Gustav Peter Wöhler
Sydsvenskan, Ingrid H Fredriksson, Sydsvenskan, Björn Best Female Speaker: Ulrike Grote
Gustavsson, Expressen, Ronny Johannesson, Kvälls- Best Author’s Reading: Andreas Steinhöfel
posten, Annelie Lindbergh, Dagens Nyheter, Ulrika
Ringö, Dagens Nyheter, Teresa Lindstedt, Sydsvenskan, Hasse Olsson Prize for Finance Journalist of the Year
Jan Malmborg, Dagens Nyheter, Hans Olsson, Dagens Niklas Svensson and Johan Stambro, TV4
Nyheter, Therese Ottem, DNEX, Ann Persson, Dagens
Nyheter, Sven Riedel, Dagens Nyheter, Peter Österlind,
Sydsvenskan, Margareta Rost Taylor, Expressen, Alexandra
Selimson, Dagens Nyheter, Alf Sjögren, Sydsvenskan, Åsa
Sjöström, Sydsvenskan, Anders Stardh, DNEX, AnnCharloth
Stjärnstrand, Kristianstadsbladet, Åsa Tellerstedt, DNEX,
and Lena Whitman, Expressen
37

38. Board of Directors
1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12
1. Carl-Johan Bonnier, Chairman 7. Hans-Jacob Bonnier
2. Jeanette Bonnier 8. Börje Andersson
3. Pontus Bonnier 9. Lars Carlberg
4. Bengt Braun 10. Per-Olov Atle
5. Pernilla Ström 11. Claes Hallin
6. Arne Karlsson 12. Christian Caspar, Co-opted
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39. Group Management
1
2 3 4
5 6 7
1. Jonas Bonnier, President & CEO Bonnier AB
2. Torsten Larsson, CEO Bonnier Broadcasting & Evening Paper and
Bonnier Entertainment
3. Sara Öhrvall, Director of Research & Development, Bonnier AB
4. Maria Curman, CEO Bonnier Books
5. Göran Öhrn, CFO Bonnier AB
6. Casten Almqvist, CEO Bonnier Business Press and Bonnier Digital
7. Ulrika Saxon, CEO Bonnier Magazines and Bonnier Morning Paper
39