R&D Joins Forces with Bonnier Digital

Bonnier R&D under the leadership of Sara Öhrvall will be merging with Bonnier Digital to further strengthen Bonnier's business development within digital media. "The merger with R&D means that Bonnier Digital will have the resources to invest in the cutting-edge research needed for further development," says Casten Almqvist, CEO for Bonnier Digital.

Sara Öhrvall was recruited to Bonnier in 2008 with a clear mandate for change. She built a central R&D department within Bonnier in order to meet the paradigm shift that digitalization has meant for the media industry and to understand the new behavior patterns of readers, viewers and users.

Where the new must replace the old, R&D has functioned as a change agent. Several of the common digital media initiatives that Bonnier has made are a direct result of the work of Bonnier's central R&D department. Among these is the U.S. launch of Mag+, the digital magazine for the iPad and other e-readers. Another current project is the concept development of a digital newspaper in conjunction with the release of the iPad on the Scandinavian market.

The Bonnier Digital business area was created in 2010 to provide a common approach to digital business within Bonnier. Companies within Bonnier Digital include Bink, which is a cross-Bonnier sales and technology company working with web media. Bink's mission is to get Bonnier's ad-financed websites to turn a profit by bringing together skills in technology and sales under one roof. The Bonnier Digital business area also has the task of developing new business in the digital world, for example in consumer services and digital commerce.

Now, R&D is taking the next step and merging with Bonnier Digital, with the task of finding future developments.

"R&D's main role will be to provide insights and suggestions for how the industry will look over the next six to 18 months, as well as initiate and lead development projects based on the insights," says Öhrvall.

Öhrvall has spent most of 2010 in San Francisco. There, she started up an R&D unit for the U.S. market as well as continued work on the development and launch of Mag+. In conjunction with her role as R&D Director at Bonnier Digital starting at the beginning of 2011, she will be moving back to Stockholm with her family.