Bink: “It’s time to see Google as our biggest competitor for advertising money.”

Photo: Magnus Skoglöf

"The mission is to make profitable those Bonnier websites that are financed through advertising," says Ahrend. "But it is important to remember we are not a shared service center for the web. We work as partners and we have had different discussions with the Group's different companies. For example, di.se will be launched with our new platform within a few weeks, and ten sites from Bonnier Tidskrifter will be launched several weeks after that. Sales staff from di.se, dn.se and Bonnier Tidskrifter already sit together, and we talk with other companies about the partnership's scope and formulation. All the sites combined have between 6 and 7 million unique visitors weekly, and the goal is to refine the web business and thereby lower costs and raise profits."

Says Göthlin: "One way to do this is to coordinate the Group's technical solutions and a large part of the technical competence, so over the long run we can lower technical costs."

What are the biggest challenges so far?

"To combine the different business cultures," says Göthlin. "The web often defines success in different ways - the number of page views rather than income is the measure."

"The formation of Bink is really just a natural consequence of how the media world looks today," says Ahrend. "We tend to think competition on the web looks like competition in the analog world: Time versus Newsweek, and so on. But that picture is wrong for the web. Our competitors are completely different players: MSN, Tradedoubler and Google, to take three examples."

How much of the editorial development will remain at the company level?

"The physical coding will certainly move here, but the responsibility will continue to lie with editorial, and they will continue to own the brand," says Ahrend.

You both come from Dagens Industri — what have you brought with you from there?

"There was always a web focus there, and the web was a separate company," says Ahrend. "We learned how to make money via the net. We also brought with us the quick decision making you find there."

"And as at Dagens Industri, at Bink the managers sit with the rest of the staff," says Göthlin.

How do you work with Bonnier R&D — is there any cooperation in the works?

"Bonnier R&D is an important partner," says Göthlin. "We hope to be a on the receiving end of projects that R&D wants to develop. They have knowledge about digital developments that is extremely valuable."

Your choice of Episerver as a publication tool for most of the Swedish sites was met with strong criticism, both externally and internally. What do you make of this?

"The critics advocated an open-source tool instead, but there is no proof that open source would be the right choice, or be cheaper," says Göthlin. "On the contrary, it could be a lot more expensive when it comes to consulting."

"You can't spend millions and play with the Group's web profits and the website's loyal readers by using something without a support organization — that would be irresponsible," says Ahrend.

When can we expect to see the results of your work?

"The technical savings will be apparent already this year, but the full effect won't be seen until next year," says Ahrend. "On the profit side we should notice results this year. When the platform is in place, we will be able to market current sites and products in a whole new way, as well as create completely different advertising products."

"Even original businesses for the respective brands will be refined thanks to this," says Göthlin. "It's a win-win for everyone."

Lastly, what does the name Bink mean?

"Nothing. It's a completely made-up name," says Ahrend.