Swedish magazine publishers merge
Egmont’s Swedish magazine publishers, Hjemmet Mortensen and Egmont Tidskrifter, were merged and became joint management in 2009 under the maneEgmont Tidskrifter. The year has brought staff reductions and organisational restructuring ending in the form of two growth centres in Stockholm and Malmoe.
In November last year, 200 employees from “Egmont Tidskrifter” got together for a day of celebration in Stockholm. To most of them, this was the first meeting with their new colleagues. Speakers, workshops and social activities helped familiarise everyone with the “new”, merged company, materialised when Egmont took full ownership of the Norwegian magazine publisher “Hjemmet Mortensen”.
Egmont has published magazines in Sweden since 1921, and Malmoe has always been the base of the Swedish magazine operations. The symbolism in the editorial office on Malmoe’s Skeppsgatan is unmistakeable: well-known Danish street signs decorate the corridors, and the 16 km long Oresund Bridge connecting Sweden with Denmark, can be seen from the panorama windows.
In the Swedish capital of Stockholm, 640 km away, are the Swedish colleagues who originally worked for the Norwegian-owned Hjemmet Mortensen. They work from the fifth floor of a typical office building, where a mix of old and new logos signal that the premises once housed another company with another name and identity.
In January, the two companies were merged to become Egmont Tidskrifter, headquartered in Stockholm but with a centre of competence established in Malmoe, from where “Hemmets Journal” is published. For years, it has ranked as Sweden’s major weekly magazine.
New opportunities
“Our Norwegian name was virtually unknown in Sweden. So we are happy to have Egmont, with its size and history, as a facilitator for new business activities. We have already met with our Nordisk Film colleagues to investigate various ways of co operations. As an example, we pre launched a Nordisk Film production last autumn. This strengthened the relationship with our advertisers – and the event was fruitful for both Nordisk Film and Egmont Tidskrifter,” explains Per Kjellander. He was the managing director of the old Hjemmet Mortensen, and has kept his position in the merged company.
Another area in which the merger has paid a bonus is on printing costs. Before the merger, the two companies were different businesses, and the remarkable increase in volume is a strong negotiating card with the printing companies. Great savings have already been made after just one year.
“We were two different companies. In Stockholm we’re used to producing speciality magazines with low circulations and small editorial teams that face fierce competition every day. For years, the company had succeeded in publishing “Hemmets Journal”, Sweden’s largestweekly in Malmoe, persistently hitting its target group with good, editorial articles. Transferring the administrative functions and other publications to Stockholm, allowed the Malmoe publisher to maintain its focus on that success.”
Don’t forget the culture
Annette Nilsson, Office Manager in Malmoe, sees the merge of the two companies as positive, and points out that the main challenge is cultural background:
“From our Malmoe base we have longstanding Egmont traditions and a magazine that everyone knows. We also come from a city and background that emphasises creating an atmosphere where everyone knows one another,” Annette explains. Many companies have a Christmas party in December. But in Malmoe, we have extended the concept to include a Christmas tree event for relatives and children. This gives you a special relation to your colleagues, also after hours.
“But the main advantage of the merger is that we now have a completely different platform to work from– regarding advertising, of course, but also in terms of IT,” explains Annette Nilsson, who is backed up by her colleague in Stockholm, Mats Lagerholm, Sales Director:
“Egmont has enjoyed good relationships and a fantastic reputation with media agencies. Before the merger we were merely niche publications – but the addition of several broad titles, spearheaded by Hemmets Journal, gives us the opportunity to put together a wider range of customised advertising packages for our customers.”
Mats Lagerholm came to Egmont from the major Swedish daily Expressen. He joined a company that published well-known titles, but whose own name was anonymous. “The former Hjemmet Mortensen that I started working for in 2007, was a publisher whose magazines, or most of them, were known to everyone – but the company itself was uknown. This has changed. The Egmont name is far stronger, and has a positive image in the industry.”
Values that unite
During 2010 Egmont Tidskrifter plans to launch an internal transformation process intended to interpret and develop Egmont’s three core values: ‘rummelig’, passion and ambition. These values, which are new to a large group of employees, will form the cornerstones of the new company. As described by Annette: “the main difference is probably that Malmoe has been close to Egmont and the head office in Copenhagen for many years. That is probably why there is a special Egmont spirit here that has yet to take hold in Stockholm.”
Egmont has published magazines in Sweden since 1921, and Malmoe has always been the base of the Swedish magazine operations. The symbolism in the editorial office on Malmoe’s Skeppsgatan is unmistakeable: well-known Danish street signs decorate the corridors, and the 16 km long Oresund Bridge connecting Sweden with Denmark, can be seen from the panorama windows.
In the Swedish capital of Stockholm, 640 km away, are the Swedish colleagues who originally worked for the Norwegian-owned Hjemmet Mortensen. They work from the fifth floor of a typical office building, where a mix of old and new logos signal that the premises once housed another company with another name and identity.
In January, the two companies were merged to become Egmont Tidskrifter, headquartered in Stockholm but with a centre of competence established in Malmoe, from where “Hemmets Journal” is published. For years, it has ranked as Sweden’s major weekly magazine.
New opportunities
“Our Norwegian name was virtually unknown in Sweden. So we are happy to have Egmont, with its size and history, as a facilitator for new business activities. We have already met with our Nordisk Film colleagues to investigate various ways of co operations. As an example, we pre launched a Nordisk Film production last autumn. This strengthened the relationship with our advertisers – and the event was fruitful for both Nordisk Film and Egmont Tidskrifter,” explains Per Kjellander. He was the managing director of the old Hjemmet Mortensen, and has kept his position in the merged company.
Another area in which the merger has paid a bonus is on printing costs. Before the merger, the two companies were different businesses, and the remarkable increase in volume is a strong negotiating card with the printing companies. Great savings have already been made after just one year.
“We were two different companies. In Stockholm we’re used to producing speciality magazines with low circulations and small editorial teams that face fierce competition every day. For years, the company had succeeded in publishing “Hemmets Journal”, Sweden’s largestweekly in Malmoe, persistently hitting its target group with good, editorial articles. Transferring the administrative functions and other publications to Stockholm, allowed the Malmoe publisher to maintain its focus on that success.”
Don’t forget the culture
Annette Nilsson, Office Manager in Malmoe, sees the merge of the two companies as positive, and points out that the main challenge is cultural background:
“From our Malmoe base we have longstanding Egmont traditions and a magazine that everyone knows. We also come from a city and background that emphasises creating an atmosphere where everyone knows one another,” Annette explains. Many companies have a Christmas party in December. But in Malmoe, we have extended the concept to include a Christmas tree event for relatives and children. This gives you a special relation to your colleagues, also after hours.
“But the main advantage of the merger is that we now have a completely different platform to work from– regarding advertising, of course, but also in terms of IT,” explains Annette Nilsson, who is backed up by her colleague in Stockholm, Mats Lagerholm, Sales Director:
“Egmont has enjoyed good relationships and a fantastic reputation with media agencies. Before the merger we were merely niche publications – but the addition of several broad titles, spearheaded by Hemmets Journal, gives us the opportunity to put together a wider range of customised advertising packages for our customers.”
Mats Lagerholm came to Egmont from the major Swedish daily Expressen. He joined a company that published well-known titles, but whose own name was anonymous. “The former Hjemmet Mortensen that I started working for in 2007, was a publisher whose magazines, or most of them, were known to everyone – but the company itself was uknown. This has changed. The Egmont name is far stronger, and has a positive image in the industry.”
Values that unite
During 2010 Egmont Tidskrifter plans to launch an internal transformation process intended to interpret and develop Egmont’s three core values: ‘rummelig’, passion and ambition. These values, which are new to a large group of employees, will form the cornerstones of the new company. As described by Annette: “the main difference is probably that Malmoe has been close to Egmont and the head office in Copenhagen for many years. That is probably why there is a special Egmont spirit here that has yet to take hold in Stockholm.”
March 2010
Gallery
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From the competence centre in Malmoe, Office Manager Anette Nilsson is in charge of the daily challenges. The colleague Håkan Ström is editor-in-chief and responsible for Sweden’s largest weekly, Hemmets Journal.
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Mats Lagerholm, Sales Director studies next week’s magazines together with editor-in-chief Ulla Carle.
