Bonnier Creative Enters New Phase

Photo: Christian Habetzeder

"We're sitting on an editorial treasure here at Bonnier Tidskrifter, but sometimes advertisers don't simply want to buy the usual full- and half-page ads. They're looking for something else," says Louise Fallenius. "And that's where we come in."

Bonnier Creative started almost exactly one year ago, in January 2009. At that time it consisted of two people: Carina Nunstedt, who came from the editorial side with successes like mama and Family Living to her credit, and Louise Fallenius, who had a more commercial background as a media adviser and director at the Carat media agency. Their assignment was to create new business and develop new concepts for the advertisers as well as BT's brand, both in paper and on the web. Above all, it was about so-called partner promotion, which can be described as a customized format for editorial content that is purchased by advertisers.

"We work as a production office," says Louise. "And there are two things we always want to have: an upside to the reader, like discount coupons, for example, plus some form of measurability."

What has been the biggest challenge with partner promotions?

"It's a balancing act to do this properly. It's important that the promotion is clearly seen as a new ad format, not an editorial cooperation.

Have you crossed the line at some point?

"No, I wouldn't say so. But breaking new ground always means testing the boundaries, and we have been forced to try our way forward. Compared with the United States, for example, we've done very little here in Sweden. We've had minimal negative reactions, and we've learned a lot from the only case where we were criticized for being too close to the editorial divide. It's essential to remember that the editor always has the last word, but almost all the publications want to participate.

Partner promotion is still a major pillar for Bonnier Creative, but since September the mission has expanded to include responsibility for all major events at Bonnier Tidskrifter. Louise mentions the Damernas Värld design award 'Guldknappen', Glamour's high-heeled race 'Stiletto Run', mama's 'Mother of the Year', the 'Veckorevyn Blog Awards' and the internal concept 'Bookyourlife.'

"We don't want all these brands to only be a fireworks display that lives a night or two, rather we believe they have the potential to live a long time in different ways. Bookyourlife, for instance will undergo a thorough process of development."

For this to materialize, Creative has recruited three project managers — Lina Rönning, Julia Sjögren och Hanna Håkansson —, all of whom have backgrounds as marketing managers within Bonnier Tidskrifter. Moreover, they will work closely with the independent events agency, 4Good. Responsible for New Biz at Bonnier Tidskrifter and also Creative is Karolina Roslund.

"Our idea is that the event can be found in all channels: in print, digital and in some cases even in book form," says Louise.

But all this change not just on Creative's part, it's also a big shift for advertisers.

"Previously, we've had advertisers who were sponsors at our events, and perhaps they had thier logo on the invitation," says Louise. "Now they'll be totally integrated in the concept, but on the other hand, they may pay ten times as much."

What do you see as your most important task right now?

"To continue to build cases to help drive future sales, and to continue to develop the events that we most believe in. But we'll also be looking into completely new areas, and it feels great!"