A new ad sales product is on offer from Bonnier in Sweden: the newly launched Bonnier Ad Network. For the first time, premium digital ads for both desktop and mobile sites from Bonnier’s major Swedish newspaper brands will be available sold as one product, with the combined reach the sites together offer.

“With this new product, a number of Bonnier’s respective sites are offering ad space to the network that can be sold both for desktop and mobile, and in premium spots,” says Alexander Lydecker, head of ad sales at Swedish national daily Expressen and responsible for the new network, which has been developed by the Bonnier News business area.

The network can also provide intelligence in the form of data collected by Bonnier Customer Insights. “This puts the product in a very premium category, considering the relevance you can achieve via the network as an advertiser,” says Lydecker.

The new network includes ad space from  Expressen, as well as national daily Dagens Nyheter, business daily  Dagens industri and southern Swedish dailies Sydsvenskan and Helsingborgs Dagblad– all part of the Bonnier News business area. The new ad network extends even beyond the business area boundaries as well and is connected to Bonnier Tidskrifter’s magazines, Swedish homeowner magazine Vi i villa, which is part of Bonnier Publications, as well as TV4’s recipe site recept.nu.

Not only will the Bonnier Ad Network have actual sales representatives selling space, but there will also be available programmatic advertising, with ad space auctioned off automatically via software. “As an advertiser or ad agency, you’ll be able to buy products extremely effectively especially when you look at the programmatic options where you even can set up your own priority spots to limit the auctioning or skip it altogether. You’ll be able to buy space automatically in real time, while we’ll provide an extremely high level of service with actual sales representatives. The market is hungry for a contact person who can offer a very high relevant reach, and we can now provide that.”

"I'm interested, therefore I'm interesting" - that's the tagline for a new joint campaign that Sweden's leading magazine publishers have launched. The cooperation started during fall 2014 and includes a survey of Swedes' interest in magazines as well as a contest honoring an individual as "The Most Interested Swede."

"This is a project that everyone involved in is passionate about," says Mats Carleson, CEO for Bonnier Tidskrifter, one of the four companies behind the campaign. "Even if we compete with each other, we still have the same goal: to highlight and make our readers visible. Without them, our magazines wouldn't be what they are today."

"The Most Interested Swede" is an honor established to highlight and celebrate Sweden's truly passionate people, who are impassioned about their interests - in short, magazine readers. The four magazine publishers taking part are Bonnier Tidskrifter, Aller media, Egmont Publishing and Albinsson & Sjöberg. The contest will include some 70 magazines, all looking for the truly devoted reader. The titles taking part range from Donald Duck to Vagabond, M-Magasin to Allers, among others. 

U.K.-based Bonnier Publishing's Blink Publishing has announced it will launch new imprint Blink Reality in summer 2015. Designed to complement the successful adult non-fiction list from Blink Publishing, the new imprint will focus on compelling true stories and relevant real life issues for a wide consumer market.

Newly appointed Blink Reality Publisher Emily Thomas says: “From celebrity and surrogacy to dealing with life after devastating loss, we’re acquiring titles that are inspirational, surprising and undeniably moving. Blink Reality will bring substance, entertainment and quality writing to readers of all tastes and backgrounds. Our aim is for these books to really captivate readers and have them sitting up late into the night to find out what happens next.”

Comprising mostly non-fiction, highlights for 2015 include an autobiographical memoir from Caprice Bourret; Sarah Alderson's hilarious and refreshing accoun t of her family’s global search to find home, Can We Live Here?; Helen Bailey's autobiographical 'life' manual, When Bad Things Happen in Good Bikinis, on living with sudden, devastating loss, handled with real warmth and humor; 7 Miles Out, autobiographical fiction from British film director Carol Morley; and Men on the Menu, Scottish-born Australian author Bambi Smyth’s flirtatious travel, dating and culinary memoir, in which she sets out to find love by visiting 22 countries, over 81 days.

This Tuesday, Dec. 23, marks exactly 150 years since Dagens Nyheter published its first newspaper in Sweden.

The paper, which was started in 1864 by newspaperman Rudolf Wall, was Sweden’s first morning newspaper and in 1888, Albert Bonnier bought shares in the company. In 1909, Albert Bonnier’s son Karl Otto Bonnier acquired majority shares to become primary owner.

“When Bonnier became the main owner, the decision was political – or really more a matter of principle,” says Carl-Johan Bonnier, Chairman of the Board for Bonnier AB and great grandson of Karl Otto; he has also been a longtime board chair for Dagens Nyheter.

“The newspaper’s conservative minority owners tried to take control and change DN’s political position. At the insistence of then Editor-in-Chief Otto von Zweigbergk, Karl Otto Bonnier bought majority shares to ensure that the paper could retain its independent or liberal position. And that was that.”

The paper has a long list of notable editors-in-chief who have followed in Rudolf Wall’s footsteps, including legendary liberal journalist Herbert Tingsten, the very literary Olof Lagercrantz, Gunilla Herlitz and today’s Peter Wolodarski – the youngest editor-in-chief in the paper’s history.

“We are proud of the paper and the position it has in the Swedish public debate,” says Carl-Johan Bonnier. “Proud of its political stance, of the quality of its journalism, of the diversity of voices and opinions in DN, and that we as owners have contributed to guaranteeing that this continues, that it is journalists who control and develop the paper independently.”

While Dagens Nyheter has been celebrating all year – for instance, dn.se has a tab devoted solely to celebrating its history, with blog posts and photos from throughout its history – the festivities culminate on the eve of its actual birthday, Dec. 22 with a gala party at Stockholm City Hall, home of the Nobel Prize ceremony and dinner. 

Nordic online book retailer Adlibris ended the year with a strong increase in sales of 10 percent in December.

"We ended the year at the top and if we summarize 2014, we're on the increase not just in sales but even in the number of customers and number of books sold," says Henrik Oscarsson, COO for Adlibris. "It's undeniably stimulating to turn negative sales numbers from 2013 into positive and yet again show growth in a book industry that otherwise fell slightly during the year."

Adlibris will invest and focus on continued growth in 2015, by among other things broadening its selection of products and putting more focus on customer experience with faster and more choices for delivery.

An area that will be getting increased resources in 2015 is digital reading. The e-book and audiobook segment grew by 18 percent during 2014 , but in order to accelerate the pace of growth, additionial resources are needed in terms of personnel, IT development and marketing.

"For us, 2015 will be about customer satisfaction and therefore we'll invest even more on the digital side," says Oscarsson. "We want to always offer our customers books in a conventient and affordable way, regardless of reading format."

In line with the digital focus, a new version of Adlibris' e-reader, Letto Frontlight, was released towards the end of the year, selling out in less than a week.

In 2014, total consumption of moving images was greater than ever. The average Swede watched 153 minutes a day of linear TV, a decrease of six minutes, while web TV viewing increased dramatically. TV4 Play generated more streaming starts and consumer consumption exploded on new platforms, as did engagement and reach in social media. In total, TV4's digital consumption amounted to 262 million streaming starts. At the same time TV4, Sjuan (channel 7) and TV12 were among the linear channels that withstood the viewer decrease the best, with viewer numbers in line with 2013.

During 2014, the TV4 Group carried out a major digital expansion on all platforms. On-demand service TV4 Play had an increase from 115.1 million to 135.2 million streaming starts. In addition, TV4 had  nearly as many streaming starts on YouTube, in total over 127 million. Which meant that TV4 doubled its total digital consumption from 131.4 million to 262.3 million streaming starts during 2014. Even the subscription service TV4 Play Premium strengthened its position as one of the biggest pay TV services online, increasing the number of subscribers by 40 percent.

"Consumption of and engagement with moving images is growing and is stronger than ever," says Cecilia Beck-Friis, vice president at the TV4 Group. "This gives our users, we as a media company and our advertisers a wide range of possibilities. We continue to invest heavily in technology, talent and content in order to give our viewers and partners the strongest offering and content, regardless of platform. During 2014, we started a number of initiatives that in 2015 will mean continued digital expansion and the launch of a wide range of new digital ventures."

Today, Bonnier Business Polska, publisher of leading Polish business daily Puls Biznesu, announced it is acquiring a 100 percent stake in the Bankier.pl Group, operator of leading business website portals in Poland.

“The acquisition of Bankier presents the opportunity to achieve within a short time-frame an objective which Bonnier has for its products internationally – a leading position in the most profitable and prestigious segments,” says Patricia Deyna, CEO for Bonnier Business Polska. “Through Bankier, we gain a team of experienced managers, journalists, and salespeople, as well as a leading brand.”

The acquisition significantly strengthens Bonnier Business Polska’s digital market position, making it a leader in business media both in print and online. The Bankier portals include flagship Bankier.pl, as well as tax, small business and PR niche sites pit.pl, vat.pl, twoja-firma.pl and prnews.pl, among others, plus SystemPartnerski.pl, the largest financial affiliate network in Poland.

“The strategy of our business press includes a significant increase of investments in technology and digital media,” says Anders Eriksson, head of the business area Business to Business within Bonnier AB, of which Bonnier Business Polska is a part. “We consider the acquisition of Bankier as an important step for our strong development in Poland, where we have experienced success for the past 18 years, and which we continue to consider as one of the key markets in the coming years.” 

Tell us about the relaunched websites for the papers.
We've built the two new sites using the same technology platform. For Sydvenskan's readers there are no revolutionary changes, the new site is fairly similar to the old one. Helsingborgs Dagblad's readers can see bigger changes. Simply put, you can say that we built on Sydsvenskan's original foundation and enhanced it with features from Helsingborgs Dagblad's website. Using the same platform makes our job easier behind the scenes but readers looking at the sites who are unaware probably barely notice the changes, I think. Like all media companies, we're working foremost in mobile, where we have tremendous growth, and that's where the biggest differences can be seen.

What has the response been so far from readers and advertisers?
 We considered points from both readers and advertisers when we developed the sites and changed the ad format a bit. The reactions that I've heard, especially from Sydsvenskan's readers, have been positive.

Tell us about your digital restructuring, of which the new websites are just one part.
We want top reach as many as possible with the important journalism we do. All growth, both in readers and revenues, is digital and it goes without saying that we are putting more effort there. Our various desks work with the web as the primary channel and with the basic principle that everything is published first on the web. This is a restructuring that both Sydsvenskan and Helsingborgs Dagblad have been working with awhile, so there's nothing revolutionary about it for our employees. The restructuring is at all levels, from how we write news texts, via how we lead our editorial meetings, to all the desks being responsible for the pages in their tabs and sub-sites and are extra careful on how texts are read digitally. And so on.

Refunder, Sweden's leading cash-back site, is growing rapidly. The number of e-purchases among Refunder members is increasing at 35 percent each month, and the number of members passed the 50,000 mark in December 2014, one year after launching.

“In general, the value of a Refunder member’s shopping cart is 30 percent more compared to that of an average e-commerce consumer,” says Fredrik Ohlsson, CEO and co-founder of Refunder. “Also, our members shop twice as often online.”

Bonnier Growth Media is increasing its ownership to 49 percent. The remaining shares are owned by the founders.

“We invest in scalable digital companies in areas of growth, and place particular emphasis on the entrepreneurial team in the driver’s seat,” says Ulrika Saxon, CEO of Bonnier Growth Media and Chairman of the Board for Refunder. “We are very pleased to increase our stake and, together with the dedicated and pro-active team at Refunder, further invest in the company’s future and growth.”

Bonnier AB’s CEO Tomas Franzén:

“The year’s financial results were in line with our expectations. Even market developments during the year were, for the most part, as expected. Print ad sales continued to decline, and changes in TV viewing were apparent in the spring. Given the circumstances, it’s gratifying to see on one side how Swedish TV4 continues to perform strongly, and on another how our business areas with significant print advertising – News, Magazines and Business to Business – have shown improved profitability.

“While we have proven ourselves to be financially stable in a turbulent market, we are facing big challenges. In markets where traditional revenue streams are under pressure, we need to increase our revenues from new, primarily digital, sources. And we need to do it at a faster pace than we have done so far.

“In September 2014, Bonnier adopted a strategy to drive this shift towards digital growth. Our ambition is to drive the change process via comprehensive investments in technology and business development within our current businesses, and with greater collaboration at, above all, the business area level. Acquisitions and divestments can of course be of interest as a complement to drive change, but the development of our core business is the main focus of our work to turn Bonnier into a leading digital media company.

“So it is with great pleasure that we have seen signs of a trend reversal for the business area News. The increase in digital advertising is now large enough to balance the decrease in print advertising. If this proves to be permanent, it is even more significant than this year’s improved profitability for the News business area.

“Bonnier has a stable financial position today and owners who take an exceptionally long view, which gives us invaluable room to maneuver. Our focus lies not in maximizing Bonnier’s profits during this year or the next, but in strengthening our long-term competitiveness. During 2015, our ambition is that the strategy adopted in 2014 will have an impact in the form of new products and services, and not least, accelerating the shift to digital revenues that can continue to pay off for Bonnier far into the future.”

Books’ EBITA improved, amounting to SEK 437 million (402), an increase that above all was driven by strong growth in the German operations. The Finnish publishers succeeded in increasing revenues in a tough market, and made a profit. Bonnier Publishing in the U.K. acquired Igloo Books in the fall, becoming the country’s third largest children’s book publisher.

Broadcasting’s EBITA amounted to SEK 589 milion (770). Swedish TV4 had yet another strong year, and both digital and nationwide advertising sales reached an all-time high, despite a decrease in linear TV viewing. Large investments in the continued digital transformation – in content, technology and business development – contributed to results not being on a par with the previous year’s record-breaking results. In Finland, MTV showed clear improvement under very difficult macroeconomic conditions. Production company Nyhetsbolaget also had a greatly improved result and has reached cost-savings targets set at the formation of the company.

Business to Business, with operations in the Nordic region as well as in Eastern and Central Europe, continued to develop strongly, improving its EBITA markedly, to SEK 132 million (88). The Norwegian health-related businesses Dagens Medisinand Norsk Helseinformatikk showed both organic growth and very strong profitability. Denmark’s leading business daily, Børsen, reached record profits. In Eastern Europe, St. Petersburg’s leading news site, Fontanka.ru, succeeded in increasing its digital ad sales by nearly 50 percent despite a tough macroeconomic climate and political unrest.

Growth Media’s EBITA amounted to SEK -189 million (-47). The decrease is primarily due to structural declines in Svensk Filmindustri’s (SF) DVD business, as well as changes in accounting principles for acquiring film rights. At the same time, SF’s production and digital distribution are growing. During 2014, SF signed a mutual distribution and production contract with French company Studiocanal, which will be significant for SF in upcoming years. Bonnier Growth Media focuses on digital companies with global growth ambitions, and among the companies in its portfolio, Toca Boca has distinguished itself with 37 percent growth and continued strong profitability. Among other wholly or partially owned growth companies within the business area are Spoon, Evoke Gaming, Refunder, United Screens, FLX and KIT.

Magazine’s EBITA was SEK 310 million (306). American company Bonnier Corporation improved profits through a combination of cost-savings and increases in digital and event-related revenues, while the Nordic operations’ results were slightly lower than last year’s.

News’ four Swedish newspaper companies had a very strong 2014, and the business area’s profits rose, to SEK 332 million (257). News daily Dagens Nyheterimproved on least year’s results and reached an all-time high in revenues from readers. Business daily Dagens industri as well as news daily Expressen reversed a trend, raising their total advertising revenues through increased digital ad sales that more than offset losses in print advertising. Southern Swedish news dailySydsvenskan acquired local paper Helsingborgs Dagblad, and the companies merged into the newly formed HD-Sydsvenskan.

Other consists of common group activities and functions. For 2014, EBITA was affected in 2014 by SEK -508 million (-604).

Gearing Ratio (net debt in relation to shareholders’ equity) was 0.82 (0.93). The group’s available liquidity, in the form of liquid assets and undrawn credit reserves, continues to be good and as of Dec. 31, 2014 amounted to SEK 6.9 billion, after Bonnier signed new five-year bank contracts in 2014.  

Further information: David Salsbäck, Director of Communications, +46 736 4047

*Starting on Jan. 1, 2014, Bonnier implemented accounting in accordance with IFRS. This has had an effect on the income statement and balance sheet. Comparable numbers restated in accordance with IFRS.

Note: This text is a translation of the Swedish original. In case of any discrepancies between the Swedish text and the English translation, the Swedish text supersedes.

The new DN.prio will be the fastest way for Swedes to stay updated on the news, with a chance to go deeper if they have the time and interest, says Anna Åberg, head of  the Dagens Nyheter (DN) website, DN.se. "Anyone who reads DN.prio should never feel as if they've missed something that everyone else is talking about," she says.

Coming out morning, evening and during the weekends, DN.prio's content is handpicked by DN's editors and consists of the most important news and the day's hottest topics of conversation. New digital platforms and a restructuring of the news desk – so everyone works with all channels – made it possible to meet the needs of faster updates for readers. The idea for DN.prio came about when DN's iPad edition, DN+, was discontinued and replaced with eDN, which never quite took off.

"Most were very satisfied, but the more tech-savvy were disappointed with eDN," says Åberg. "You expect DN to be in the forefront, we should be leading the development of digital news consumption. The idea for DN.prio was born out of that disappointment."

Some 50 people have been working on the project, which started in summer 2013, with development starting in earnest during fall 2014. Last week, a beta version was released, and around a thousand people are in the first group of testers, with more being added over time.

"It's a bit scary," says Åberg. "This is the first time DN is releasing a product in beta, something that's unfinished and not perfected yet. But it's also in line with our strategy that all our digital products should be developed in conjunction with the reader."

Dagens Nyheter hopes to scratch the beta label in the spring, but it depends on how the test period goes. It's the response from readers that will steer the final development.

"We hope we're filling an empty niche in Swedish media, and that we've found a product that speaks to a lot of people," says Åberg.

The beta version is free, but following the full launch, you will need to be a digital subscriber to DN to access DN.prio. Articles shared in social media will be available to everyone, however. Read more about DN.prio (in Swedish). 

It’s been over a month since the offices of French satire magazine Charlie Hebdo were brutally attacked and the story has dropped from the top of the news. But Klaus Humann, founder of German book publisher Aladin Verlag, following the attack immediately set to work on compiling an anthology of new illustrations as a response in defense of free speech.

“Freedom of speech and expression is a human right and by no means negotiable. We need an open society as much as air to breathe. We have to respect each other regardless of religion, conviction, origin or race. And we will defend the right to express our opinions,” wrote Humann in a letter to over 40 illustrators from Germany, Great Britain, France, Beligum, Australia and the United States, asking them to contribute.

Most responded and the result is Zeichner verteidigen die Meinungs Freiheit– Illustrators Defend Freedom of Speech – with 29 illustrations on the theme from well-known artists as such as Christoph Niemann, Janosch, Chris Riddell, Axel Scheffler, Peter Sís, David Wiesner, Bob Graham and Ralph Steadman, among others. The introduction was written by Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung’s reviewer Andreas Platthaus – and while his text is in German, the illustrations themselves speak the universal language of the cartoon.

The book is being published by Aladin on February 15, and all proceeds will go to PEN’s Writers in Prison program.

Today, Bonnier Business Press AB announced it has acquired majority shares in news site Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten. Founded in 2012, the site is a fast-growing new player in the German business news market and already has some 2 million unique visitors per month. Under the transaction, Bonnier Business Press acquires a 51-percent share from the site’s publisher, BF Blogform Social Media GmbH.

“This acquisition provides us with a great company and a great team, which will serve as the basis for further expansion within German business news,” says Anders Eriksson, business area head for Business to Business at Bonnier. “Bonnier believes the market holds a lot of opportunities and Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten’s impressive performance shows that we now have the right vehicle to pursue a German expansion.”

“We are very proud that Bonnier Business Press will be the new owner of Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten,” says Michael Maier, founder and publisher of Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten. “We share the same values of high-quality journalism, and we are convinced that the digital world is a perfect environment for modern business news. Bonnier’s success in many European countries gives us additional strength to further develop our position as a leading business media in Germany.”

The minority owners, Michael Maier and Christoph Hermann, will continue with the company as publisher and managing director respectively.

Since its founding, Deutsche-wirtschafts-nachrichten.de has been Germany’s fastest growing business news media online with the biggest reach in social media. Bonnier Business Press has business-to-business operations in 10 countries with a focus on business news media and niche products for business professionals.

Bonnier Growth Media has announced it is investing in Abios Gaming, one of the teams from Bonnier Accelerator fall 2014. The company is majority owned by the three founders, Anton Janér, Oskar Fröberg and Birger Myrberg.

Among startup companies in the fast-growing e-sports sector, Abios Gaming has taken the position of link between streaming platforms and e-sport fans and viewers.

”Three years ago, e-sport took off as a global phenomenon, and today there is a fast-growing digital infrastructure with streaming services, huge tournaments and a market for sponsors,” says Oskar Fröberg, CEO for Abios Gaming. “We’ve grown up in this culture and then attended the Stockholm School of Economics and the Swedish Royal Institute of Technology, and now we’ve succeeded in establishing a unique service that the public likes and benefits from. We're very excited about the partnership with Bonnier Growth Media that we believe can strengthen our growth plans for the future.”

“The market for e-sports is still in its infancy, but it’s growing quickly and reaches millions of young men globally, an audience that the media otherwise has difficulty attracting,” says Ulrika Saxon, CEO for Bonnier Growth Media. “We’ve gotten to know the team behind Abios Gaming during the past several months, and we’re impressed of their extensive knowledge and engagement in this fast-growing market.”

Abios Gaming was recently named by The Daily Dot as “the one-stop shop for e-sports streaming.” Read more here.

A new video ad platform from Bonnier will give advertisers the possibility of reaching target audiences based on first-party data from Bonnier on all the group's websites that have video content.

With the video ad platform, the advertising market will be able to purchase and run campaigns across the group's various video services. The platform also allows for transparent and easy follow-up for advertisers. To start with, the platform will include video ad space from TV4 Play as well as video content on websites for Swedish dailies Expressen, Dagens Nyheter and Dagens industri. This means that already at launch, the platform will be one of the most powerful in the Swedish online video market.

"Via the new programmatic platform, we'll be able to meet advertisers' needs for simplicity, transparency and control of campaigns," says Nicklas Norrby, who is responsible for the new platform at the TV4 Group. "In the near future, the idea is that the platform will also offer niched target audiences based on first-party data from Bonnier, plus include certain specially chosen non-Bonnier news sites."

The new video ad platform will be launched in stages during the spring. The project is being led by the TV4 Group. The purpose, like the display ad network Bonnier Ad Network (read more here) that is being driven by Expressen and the Bonnier News business area, is to offer advertisers the possibility to utilize the breadth of Bonnier's media.

Nordic pay TV network C More is selling its sports operations in Norway to TV2, which is owned by Egmont. In conjunction with the sale, a long-term cooperation has begun between the two regarding C More's film and series offering on the Norwegian market. The agreement will be complete during the spring following approval by the Norwegian competition authority. Read more in a press release from C More (in Swedish). 

Today at a ceremony in Tallinn, Estonia, the Bonnier Award for investigative journalism was given to Kärt Anvelt of major daily Eesti Päevileht. She won for her investigation on doping, which resulted in changes in Estonian law.

The Bonnier Award was founded in 1996.

Stockholm-based Bonnier Business Media (BBM) has acquired a proven innovative technology from Swedish start-up Jobylon. It will give BBM the ability to automate retrieval of public information online, such as job postings, data and articles. The acquisition will allow Jobylon to focus entirely on a newly launched service, a recruiting tool that lets employers create attractive and innovative job postings.

Bonnier Business Media plans to integrate the system together with its existing websites - for example dagensmedicin.se, dagensapotek.se, va.se and resume.se - to offer new services to their customers. The first service will be automated retrieval and publication of job postings for those customers who want an efficient and cost-effective solution that provides optimal exposure to the right target audiences. In the future, BBM plans to collect relevant user data and information to build new products for the market.

"We see many new and exciting possibilites with this technology for building new valuable products for our customers, advertisers and readers," says Mikael Nestius, CEO for Bonnier Business Media. "BBM will continue to invest in technology that helps us be cutting edge when it comes to B2B media."

Winners of the Finnish Grand Prize for Journalism 2014 were announced yesterday evening during a live-broadcast TV ceremony in Helsinki. For the first time, a Book of the Year was also awarded, a prize that went to Tommi Kinnunen (WSOY).

Article/Episode of the Year

Jari Lindholm, Suomen Kuvalehti
Sairaala/"Minulla ei ole ebolaa - pelkkä ajatuskin on naurettava." (Hospital/"I Don't Have Ebola - the Thought is Laughable")

Journalistic Achievement of the Year

Mikko Salo and working team Tuomas Muraja, Taru Taipale, Jukka Rautanen and Jussi Salmio, Faktabaari (The Fact Bar)

Book of the Year

Tommi Kinnunen
Neljäntienristeys, WSOY (Where Four Roads Meet)

Journalist of the Year

Minna Knus-Galán, Yle/MOT

Read more about the winners and what the jury had to say here (in Finnish).

The Swedish Grand Prize for Journalism was inaugurated in 1966 by Bonnier to recognize achievement in journalism. In 2004, the Finnish Grand Prize for Journalism was established. 

Bonnier’s annual gathering of sales stars, the Bonnier Sales Awards, ended this evening with splash, with a record six prizes being given out in front of an enthusiastic crowd from throughout the Bonnier world.

The day started earlier with an afternoon seminar featuring serial entrepreneur Mikael Ahlström, founder of digital agency Britny, part owner of digital development school Hyper Island and chairman of the board for entrepreneur meeting group and co-working space SUP-46. “Find that one data point that will make a difference, and visualize it,” said Ahlström, who led a workshop on change. “It's a powerful way to drive change.” Also speaking were Bonnier CEO Tomas Franzén and Sven Ernst of Germany’s Axel Springer, talking about the media giant’s own digital journey.

Later, some 150 guests gathered at Stockholm City Hall, site of the annual Nobel Awards dinner, to eat dinner together, to be entertained by dance performance Stop Rewind and to celebrate the finalists and the winners announced:

Olli Väisänen, MTV, Finland - Sales Rookie of the Year
The jury wrote: “Olli Väisänen started as a rookie with no existing customers in a tough market. Every client he brought in was new business for MTV. He is hugely appreciated by his customers and his co-workers for his strong combination of skills that make him a top salesman.”

For the first time, the Sales Manager of the Year award went to two of the finalists - Fredrik Lamotte, TV4 and Johan Myrin, Dagens Nyheter, Sweden
The jury wrote: “Fredrik Lamotte is a true rising star, a role model to anyone who wants to know how to be successful not just in sales, but in business. His turnaround of TV4 ad sales and the team in Malmö was truly remarkable.
“Johan Myrin is a curious and open-minded leader. He is always searching for ways to improve his paper’s online revenues. A large part of the credit for Dagens Nyheter’s 50 percent increase in digital sales goes to him.”

Katie Kovaleff, Bonnier Corporation, U.S. - Multi-Channel Sales of the Year
The jury wrote: “Katie Kovaleff uses her sales skills, work ethic and multi-channel chops to excel, selling more multi-channel sales programs than any other sales representative. Her track record in providing value has given her a stellar reputation in the entire industry.”

Linus Andersson, Dagens industri, Sweden - Sales Representative of the Year
The jury wrote: “As a customer said about Linus Andersson: ‘Linus  is the only sales rep who can make me believe that spending 200,000 dollars in one day in a single magazine is the best investment  - and then after that, sell two more inserts the same day!’”

A special Prize for Exceptional Achievement was given to Alexander Lydecker, Expressen, Sweden
The jury wrote: “Alexander Lydecker is a living example of how to transform in this fast-changing digital world, as our sales move rapidly from traditional print to digital. He is not just a sales expert but also understands the importance of customer data and knows how to think like a customer, taking extraordinary steps to bring together different companies within Bonnier in a cooperation that we hope will have far-reaching effects for us and our customers.”

The Sales Manager, Multi-Channel and Sales Representative of the Year winners receive EUR 10,000 each; the Sales Rookie of the Year receives EUR 3,000 and a ticket to Bonnier’s annual internal inspiration conference GRID.