Bonnier to reveal streaming service combining articles, TV documentaries

 

The FIPP World Congress takes place from 9-11 October and Henneberg will be speaking on the Congress specialist stage on the afternoon of Tuesday 10 October. 

Bonnier Publications is the largest magazine publisher in the Nordics. 

With operations in 15 countries and more than 50 titles, Bonnier, which started as a publisher in 1804, has transformed itself into an innovator that has embraced digital disruption. 

Jens Henneberg, executive vice president and editorial director, will present four case studies at the Congress to illustrate various ways to improve profitability based on specialist content. 

 
Jens Henneberg ()
 

Henneberg says Congress goers will be reminded that Bonnier is primarily a consumer media company with their main income derived from subscriptions. Bonnier sells its content at a high price compared to many other markets in the world. This remains in stark contrast to publishers driven by advertising sales and/or lower cover prices. 

It means Bonnier’s specialist content needs to be optimised. As such, most of the company’s major brands are cross-border titles. “They are edited and produced in Copenhagen and translated and published in Norway, Sweden and Finland. Two titles are also published in The Netherlands and Belgium. 

 
Bonnier ()
 

“The key message here is that content is a very important asset. We monetise it by publishing in a variety of ways, often over a long period of time. We are less news-focussed and more focussed on special interest, and commission material that is relevant for several months or even years. To do this kind of ‘asset management’ we have to look at three factors that are often overlooked: rights handling, digital infrastructure and our organisation.” 

Henneberg will illustrate this by bringing four best practice examples to the Congress. The first relates to how people are prepared to pay for subscriptions if they know specialist content is being offered. The title of Henneberg choice is Bonnier’s  DIY-magazine, Gør Det Selv, which has proved to be excellent at selling subscriptions, compared to other forms of marketing. 

The second example will deal with how Bonnier has convinced readers of their computer magazine, Komputer for Alle, to pay for digital content. The brand now delivers, apart from the printed magazine, access to a restricted website to it subscribers, where they – as only one example – can download software. Henneberg will illustrate how this new approach has turned into a shortcut to get consumers to pay for digital content and services. 

 
Bonnier ()
 

The third example relates to how two of Bonnier’s strongest brands, Science Illustrated and History, is now systematically reusing content to create books, bookazines and special issues that are designed for a wide array of distributions channels. He will explain how good the performance and profit margins of this new practice have become. 

Fourthly, Henneberg will stress how important data has become in monetising specialist content. “We are of course data driven in much of our approach – relying on data from many sources from websites visits to subscribers behaviour. One very clear finding is that SEO and newsletters are important tools to drive traffic and monetise on, Facebook less so.” 

 
Bonnier covers ()
 

However, last but not least, what Congress goers should also look out for, says Henneberg, is his introduction of a new product: a combination of articles and TV-documentaries that will be offered as a streaming service for Bonnier’s science and history segment. “We select, curate and enhance documentary films from third party vendors. We put the film into context and provide additional material for our enthusiast customers.” 

Hear more at the FIPP World Congress, 9-11 October, London.

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FIPP World Congress 2017 | Meet the speaker: Jens Henneberg, Bonnier Publications

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