Magazine Queen

Photo by Niklas Palmklint

She’s been called Sweden’s Oprah Winfrey.  With three of the biggest Swedish magazine successes of the last 15 years under her belt, two Stora Journalistpriset (Great Journalist Awards) and the devotion of multiple generations of women readers, it’s easy to see why Amelia Adamo is the queen of magazines.

We had one foot in the sink and one in the stiletto.

So how do you become a one woman empire?  It starts with understanding your audience.  “All of my magazines are based on a woman's life! The Amelia woman has probably someone who constantly cries out ‘Mom!’ She is there for others. The Tara woman has teenagers at home, but has just come into the ‘fresh start life’; it is now that she will invest in herself. And the M woman has had so much time for herself that she prefers to be needed, by someone who shouts, ‘Grandma!’”

Of course, you have to have some gumption to name your first magazine after yourself, especially in a country that values humility.  But Amelia has never been just about her–it's about putting everyday women front and center.

“People were tired of supermodels, this was a magazine for the girl next door,” explains Amelia. “We wrote about independent women, about women who worked. We had one foot in the sink and one in the stiletto.” 

Readers saw themselves in that mix.  After three years, Amelia became Sweden’s largest women’s magazine, a position it has held onto ever since.  She’s supplemented her monthly with annual special issues: Amelia Christmas, Amelia Summer, Amelia Bridal & Wedding, Amelia Baby and more.  There are now eight special edition issues of Amelia, each published annually.

Six years later, Amelia and her staff felt that the readers had grown older with them. Making a magazine that could speak to both 30- and 50-year-olds seemed impossible. So in 2001, the latter got their own magazine: Tara, dedicated to women in their 50s who suddenly find more time for themselves.

After Tara made a splash in the Swedish magazine market, Amelia hesitated to make a magazine for the women over 50.  She knew that the advertising market would ignore them. But during a trip to the U.S., Amelia found the inspiration she needed to define and uplift today's older woman.  The M in M-Magasin stands for “Mappie” (Mature Affluent Pioneering People), a term coined by the magazine's former managing editor, Claes Blom. The word stirred plenty of buzz in the Swedish press.

This time Amelia had a mission: “I wanted to change the outdated attitude to the 50 +-woman, that we are not attractive either in bed or in the labor market.”

Amelia also wants to celebrate the generosity of heart that comes with age.  “When you become a 50+, it feels as if it's payback time. Therefore, a crown of each sold numbers of M-magasin goes to UNICEF. This year they received 833,000 SEK. The Amelia magazines have always been standing for commitment.”

In 2001, Amelia also launched Rosa Bandet (“Pink Ribbon”), a magazine with a very specific topic: breast cancer.  “At that time two close friends of mine had breast cancer,” says Amelia. “At Heathrow in London, I saw a magazine called Pink Ribbon. I bought an issue, went to the Swedish Cancer Fund and said, ‘I want to make this magazine in Sweden, and ten crowns of each issue will go to you.’”
 
Bonnier agreed to publish it with Amelia, though it was a money-losing venture.  Once again, Amelia wanted to be there for her dedicated audience.  “Getting breast cancer was what the readers were most afraid of, and it was a challenge to make a happy and warm magazine about a disease you can die of.”
 
Three years later, the Cancer Fund made a television program based on Rosa Bandet, now an annual television gala. Rosa Bandet lives on as an annual supplement in Amelia, Tara and M-Magasin. 
 
This Swedish icon listens to her readers.  “We always have been open to change, we check all the time that what we are doing the right thing. It is a combination of knowledge and skill not to take success for granted. This is not ‘a one woman show’; we are a team. And most important for me is our art director Marianne Brandt. She has made the design for all three magazines.” 

Amelia says that her magazines are compiled as a journey-the idea is to move from Amelia to Tara, and from Tara to M-Magasin. And if you have become accustomed to the tone of Amelia, you should feel at home in the other magazines.  “We must know what women are talking about at a girl’s night out. And what they dream of. We have readers’ evenings, ranging from author visits to theme nights on plastic surgery. What is important is that we talk horizontally with readers, not from the top down."

Amelia’s three favorite magazines:

• O: "Skill, warmth and commitment. They have a mixture of 'conjure away my curves' and Nobel Prize winners. M-magasin has taken some inspiration from O." 
• Stern: "A fantastic news and picture magazine that inspires me to make violent edits." 
• Brigitte Woman: "They present the 50+ woman like I want to see her: interesting, ambitious and stylish."