Talking Points

Foto: Niklas Palmklint

After nearly three months as Chief Communications Officer at Bonnier, Mårten Lyth is setting a modern tone for the 200 year old company.  He talks about the challenges, his approach to communication and what it means to have a CEO who answers the telephone when journalists call.  

What is your mission at Bonnier?

The mission is to safeguard and develop the image of the company in all our markets.  The challenges obviously look different in Sweden and abroad, but the goal is the same - to make Bonnier an attractive media group to cooperate with and work for. 

Then, I think it is important to provide a clearer role for communications here.  The difficulty is that it is not always completely obvious what the benefits of communication are, when communication is exactly what the company deals with; it's the very lifeblood of the company's activity. 

What do you think yourself that communication should be?

My view is that communication must create value and help the company achieve its business goals. 

How is your role different from your predecessor?

First of all, the Bonnier brand is significantly more visible today.  Not long ago, people discussed internally whether or not Bonnier even was a brand.  Today we have taken the step to say yes, we are a brand, this is how we are perceived by the outside world.  But I am currently working to form this role and explore the possibility of how to better use all the wonderful skills and resources available in the Bonnier world. 

Bonnier owns business newspapers in Eastern Europe, surfing sites in California, Finnish TV stations and German publishing houses.  Is it even meaningful to gather all this under one brand?

Not on the consumer side.  At a corporate level, it is important to note that Bonnier is a brand in relation to values, vision and driving forces.  But we have no ambition to make Bonnier a strong consumer brand.  Several of our companies have much stronger brands than Bonnier, and that's the way it should be.  Bonnier will be a support and a security, something to help employees perceive that they are a part of something bigger. 

How are you getting an overview of the activity?

So far, I have only visited Bonnier companies in Stockholm, but my ambition is to visit all our companies in the world; to be close to the business and understand what issues they are grappling with. 

And your tasks look quite different in Sweden and abroad?

Yes.  In Sweden there is a perception of Bonnier, which we must relate to.  Abroad, we are less known and there is no definite idea of what Bonnier is.  So in Sweden, the challenge is to balance and influence the image.  In the U.S., Germany and Russia, the challenge is to increase the awareness. 

You talk about "balance and influence".  Given Bonnier's position on the Swedish market, it seems that there might be many pitfalls.

The first thing we have to do is to determine whether we want influence the perception of Bonnier.  Do we want to be a part of the conversation? In that case, we can do so through action, and dare to be constructive in the conversation with those who have opinions about us.  The image of Bonnier in Sweden is based on how it looked 20-30 years ago, and that image needs to be modernized.  But it is not about obscuring the facts, it's about communicating what the reality is.  And in some cases we may have to speak for ourselves. 

What is the biggest misconception or myth about Bonnier?

That the owners control or influence the editorial work and the editorial content.  In fact, there is incredibly clear integrity to each company.  Our core values illustrate the freedom you have within Bonnier - we have a strong belief in individual power, we are passionate about marketing the opinions of others and we fight for freedom of speech. 

Sometimes, the Bonnier family is criticized because they are closed and invisible.  Is this true, according to you? 

I do not think it is true at all.  There are extremely few companies of this size in the world where the CEO himself is answering the telephone and talks to journalists who call, but Jonas Bonnier does so.  As Chief Communications Officer, I do not always think it's an optimal situation...however, it says something about our openness.  We have also recently seen a three-hour documentary about the Bonnier family on Swedish TV channel TV4, where the family opened their archives for the program makers.  At the same time, we should not deny that there is a value in the existence of a mythical aura around Bonnier.

How did the TV series affected the Bonnier brand?

It has definitely been good.  The series has given greater insight into the family history, and hopefully a more accurate picture of how the company became what it is today. 

What is your top priority right now?

To take the branding work to the next step, roll it out and present it to the companies and ensure that it can begin to have an effect.  It is much more than a paper and a new logotype - it is about how we behave and how we work together.  This is not a campaign, it is something that is going to last.  With that work also comes the review of various existing strategies, plans and policies.