Olivia Magazine Celebrates Four Years

Finland's Olivia magazine has decided to pay it forward this year and will do a good deed every month. The readers get to decide the good deeds: Will Olivia collect books for hospitals, clean the Töölö bay beaches or offer child care assistance to single parents? Readers can propose their ideas for good deeds on Facebook and on Olivia's web site. The first good deed will be carried out in March. Olivia's actions are in line with the International Random Acts of Kindness movement in which individuals, communities and companies do good deeds and spread joy and happiness.

Olivia is also celebrating its four-year success story with a free special edition for the iPad (you'll find it here). The special issue consists of the best articles published in Olivia over the years as well as a selection of the latest stories.

"The iPad is great for viewing pictures and reading long stories," says Olivia's editor-in-chief Niina Leino. "That's why we chose for this special issue a collection of Olivia's most delicious fashion views and beloved stories."

Olivia is aimed at 30+ urban women. According to the most recent National Readership Survey (KMT) in Finland, Olivia has 149,000 readers and its website is the No. 1 for all women's magazines with more than 32,000 weekly visitors. The site has become a forum where the readers chat and share common interests.  

The secret behind Olivia's quick start is the way Olivia talks to its target group with aware "lohas" consumers - the so-called lifestyles of health and sustainability upscale demographic interested in sustainable and green goods - at the very heart of it, Leino says. Olivia respects the ethical values of its readers, who want to make a difference through their choices, she says, and for Olivia readers it is crystal clear that a major change in our way of life is required to stop climate change.

"We believe that these changes should be done, if only because they improve the quality of life," Leino says. "A good example is local and organic food that is environmentally friendly and also tastes better and is healthier."

Olivia makes ethical choices easy for the reader, Leino says. Travel stories present nearby visiting spots or places only a train trip away and food stories tend toward vegetarian dishes - beef as an ingredient is used only a couple of times a year. Olivia's fashion pages encourage readers to find their own style and to combine clothes in new ways as well as investing in good quality and furs are not found in Olivia's fashion stories at all.