U.S. Magazine Group Surfs Economic Waves

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What does a scabby-kneed teen skateboarder have in common with his 50-year-old, CEO mother? What do they both share with a whitetail-hunter in Missouri and a seaweed-wrapped sun worshipper in Hawaii? These disparate types may not be able to see what ties them together, but Dave Freygang, Vice President of Publishing for Bonnier Corporation's Enthusiast Group, does.

“The common thread of passion binds the readers in each group,” he says. The Working Mother reader may not always see eye-to-eye with her TransWorld SKATEboarding-obsessed son, but Bonnier Corporation understands them both.

Even more importantly, the edit and sales staff are enthusiasts themselves.  Freygang believes this shared passion has driven Bonnier Corporation’s success. “We try to have people who not only are experts in publishing, but participants in the media that we publish. Look at a guy like [Outdoor Group Publisher] Eric Zinczenko, hunter – we’re a trusted source because our readers respect us and know we know what we’re talking about.”

I think that 2009 will be known for some of its volatility, turbulence and challenge, but what I personally hope for is that it will be known as a year of reinvention and innovation. —Greg Schumann

Authenticity isn’t the only factor, though – expertise also plays an integral role. In an era when the Internet can provide a flood of unvetted information, editorial brands still carry weight. Gregg Hano, Science Group Publisher, understands that. “I think one of the things that binds this company together is that the audience that comes to each publication wants to learn. I really think that when you pick up Saveur or Popular Science, the curiosity that exists in our reader base is what’s driving them there. If they want to learn to snowboard or make a soufflé, they know that they can come to these brands and learn it.”

Tapping into niche enthusiasm has been the key to this group’s business since its inception in 1978.  That was the year that Bonnier Corporation CEO Terry Snow—then a competitive water skier barely two years out of college—launched his first title, WaterSkiing (now WaterSki).

“In the early eighties, I started to build a small company that launched other magazines around personal interests and passions that I had: windsurfing (WindRider) and deep-sea fishing (Sport Fishing),” says Snow. “We started with one title in 1978, and today we have 43 titles, most of which are the leaders in their categories.”

Snow’s Florida-based World Publications became a major player in the affluent market, often courting rich baby boomers with a luxury allowance. In 2006, World Publications partnered with Bonnier AB, which bought a minority interest in the company. In 2007, Bonnier AB purchased 18 magazines from Time Inc., combined those assets with World and created a new company, Bonnier Corporation, expanding its demographic reach considerably. They gained some of the country’s oldest and most respected brands (Outdoor Life and Popular Science), tapped into the burgeoning mom market (Parenting and Babytalk), and began a dialogue with the nation’s youth (with lifestyle titles such as Transworld SNOWboarding and SKATEboarding). In one quick move, the fledgling Bonnier Corporation began to engage millions more readers. The company expanded from 360 employees to over 1,100 employees, establishing flagship offices in New York, Florida, California and Colorado. It is now a formidable brand in the American media market.

Bonnier Corp.'s five-year strategy includes plans to acquire more titles, but also to grow in the fields of the Web, video/TV and events.  Their goal is to become a centralized multimedia company that puts the customer at the center of its business model— not the magazine.

Growing pains could have proven problematic in a corporate expansion of this magnitude, but Greg Schumann, Vice President, Publishing for the Parenting Group, believes that the corporation's relative infancy works to its advantage. "I think that all businesses are a continuing evolution, but this is a company that's creating and inventing itself every day," he says. "The process requires the organization to be more entrepreneurial than corporate, and I think that innovation is mandated when you're in the process of creating and building something."

Having a business model that moves quickly while still nurturing creative thinking seems to work. Consider the group’s unblemished publishing track record. “Launching magazines is a capital-intensive and risky business, but we have yet to have a failure; every new launch or acquisition has succeeded,” says Snow.

Hano credits rigorous standards when measuring the success Bonnier titles have achieved, both in print and online. “What unites the different businesses is a desire to produce editorial content that is the highest quality. We work extremely hard within our group to produce an editorial product that, in all forms, resonates and takes advantage of the authority and goodwill that exists with those readers and visitors,” he says. “The readers have a trust in these products, and we can monetize that.”

Can the business withstand the stress of the country’s rapidly-changing economic climate? Freygang thinks so— and he’s got a plan. “We tend to outperform the downturns because we connect with our audience. We really reach the tip of the triangle. We want to affect the influencers. They don’t stop their activities in an economic downturn,” he says.

Schumann also prefers to think of the recession as an opportunity for change. "I think that 2009 will be known for some of its volatility, turbulence and challenge, but what I personally hope for is that it will be known as a year of reinvention and innovation."

Snow is banking on Bonnier Corp.’s passionate staff to help the business float above the rest of the market. “Bonnier is one of the few media companies that places a higher value on their people (and their creative contributions) versus the short-term profits of the company,” he says. 

What else would you expect from a guy who built a whole corporation around his favorite pastimes?

Bonnier Corporation is home to 43 titles, including Field & Stream (1.5 MM subscribers), 137-year-old Popular Science (1.3 MM subscribers), and Parenting (2.1 MM subscribers). With more than $350 million in annual revenue, Bonnier Corporation ranks among the top 15 nationally among publishing companies.