New Revenue Channels for Viivilla.se

As an alternative to classic display advertising, the website for Swedish homeowner magazine Vi i Villa,  viivilla.se, has been investing since spring 2011 in finding new alternative revenue sources so that site visitors generate income for the site. One example is the auction service auktionstjänsten launched in January 2011 (read more here).

The big advantage with the auctions, says Christopher Holmerin, Nordic publishing manager for interactive media at Bonnier Publications AB, of which Vi i Villa is a part, is that advertisers donate the auctioned items to viivilla.se as part of their product marketing on the site and via the site's newsletter.

"We auction off the advertisers' products on our site and the bids become our profit," says Holmerin. "By donating the products, advertisers don't need to take money from their regular marketing budgets for a campaign on viivilla.se. It also makes processing customers for the auction much easier, especially now at the end of the year when the majority of budgets are being planned."

Fellow Nordic sites idenyt.dk, viivilla.no and suomela.fi will also being using the concpet during 2012.

Another new revenue area is the online store Designmarknad that Vi i Villa operates together with Signerat.se, a design boutique on the net with over 200 affiliated designers.

"Our visitors are intensely interested in their homes and interior design," says Holmerin. "Through our cooperation with Signerat, we can offer a wide range of unique products for personal decorating. Along with the cooperation with Signerat, we're looking for additional integrated cooperative approaches with online stores in other segments relevant to our target group; we've worked before as well with smartasaker.se."