March 2013 (English)

2012in review

What has your division been up to?

Generation touchMeet yourfuture customer

MARCH 2013

STORIES

MaintaininG Morale

HOw tO mOtivate in tOugH times

Marketing on social Media

love itOR Leave it

egmont stories march 20132

4 Egmont in good shapethe five minute overview

6 Highlights from 2012

8 Prizes galoreFor creative spirits all over egmont

10 They can see the wood for the treesRead about our CsR initiatives

12 A helping handOur profits working for the children

14 Kon-tikia nordic film fairy tale

16 Maintaining morale when times are toughthis is what it takes to turn your business around

20 A television? A book? A playroom?apps for everyone

22 The quest for unforgettable moments

24 Egmont travellersworking in a global media company

26 Meet the crossword and touch generationtales from two types of digital life

28 Love it or leave itHow to do marketing on social media

30 The year in reviewwhat has your division been up to?

32 North and SouthFrom the outskirts of egmont

EDITOR RESPONIBLE UNDER DANISH PRESS LAW mika Bildsøe Lassen // EDITORS niels almer, Birgitte haj, henrik sundin [email protected] CONTRIBUTORS (all from Egmont) ann-sofie senger, henning nørby nielsen, Johanne Viken sandnes, Jonas heide smith, maria Junget, mie Bach andersen, nanna mosegaard and niels almer // LAYOUT o&o // FOTOS steen Brogaard, Kristian septimius Krogh, carl christian raabe, magnus nordenhof Jønck, getty images/all over Press, Jon Barlow and www.vegardbreie.no // PRINTER rosendahls Bogtrykkeri a/sPRINT RUN 5.800 copies // PUBLICATION DATE 21 march 2013

KoncernkommunikationVognmagergade 11

DK -1148 København KPhone +45 33 30 55 50

every day, every hour of the year new stories from egmont have their premiere. some of these stories make their way into the individual world our children discover through an app on a tablet (read more on page 20), while others captivate an entire nation, as happened with our epic feature Kon-Tiki (read more on page 14) and the grand finale of tv 2’s Farmen (read more on page 22).

egmont’s stories reach far and wide, and in this issue we touch on such diverse topics as Egmont’s social responsibility (page 9), management in times of crisis (page 16) and marketing on Facebook (page 28).

with increasing competition over comsumer’s media time, content is more interesting than the media itself. we wish to reflect this by renaming our internal magazine from HardCopy to STORIES. we wish to make internal communication available on as many platforms as possible, so you can choose for yourself. stORies is published on print and tablet twice each year. in the meantime you can follow the newsfeed on insight.

Remember to pass on the magazine to a colleague and please send your feedback to [email protected].

Dear colleague, content

mika Bildsøe LassenVice President,

Corporate Communications

aPPS

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14 a norDicFilM Fairy tale

unforgettableMoMentS

tHey Can see the wooD

aPPS

Social media

4 egmont stories march 2013

DENMARK

SWEDEN

NORWAY

UK

AUSTRALIA

CZECH REP.

GERMANY

TURKEY

BULGARIA ROMANIA

CROATIA

ESTONIA

CHINA

THAILAND

POLAND

UKRAINE

LATVIA LITHUANIA

HUNGARY

UNITED STATES

SOUTH AFRICA

RUSSIA

FINLAND

in 2012 profit before interest, depreciation and amortisation and pre-tax profit were egmont’s highest ever.

‘all our business areas have enjoyed strong growth in 2012 and are contributing positively to corporate profit,’ says steffen Kragh, President and CeO. screen-based income has developed favourably, income flows from new digital media have increased, and many publications enjoyed success – also in print.

the egmont family has also welcomed new companies on board, including Oxygen magazines, which joined egmont magazines, and venuepoint, now part of nordisk Film.

‘Both profit and revenue are our highest to date. i am especially gratified to see the progress recorded by our screen-based media and the high level that our other media products have maintained. we have once more succeeded in creating engaging media products that consumers appreciate,’ says steffen Kragh.

He mentions a few examples of egmont’s countless creative and commercial media successes in 2012: every week egmont’s scandinavian web services log three million unique users. in norway viewers watched programmes offered by tv 2’s seven channels for an average of 45 minutes a day. Over six million people bought tickets to see films in nordisk Film Cinemas. in addition to garnering golden globe and Oscar nominations, Kon-tiki and a Royal affair sold 900,000 and 500,000 tickets, respectively, in their home markets. egmont also launched over 200 apps and localised versions for children.

nordisk Film was the nordic region’s

AcquIREd/STARTEd 2012

MAGAZINES

Acquired: Klintberg nilehn.

Started: Oxygen media, Lev Landling, Blogg.no, de danske vægtkonsulenter.

KIDS MEDIA

Acquired: egmont africa.

Started: Krea media, Fusentasterne.

NORDISK FILM

Acquired: BioCity næstved

Started: venuepoint, Filmweb.

BOOKS

Started: akribe.

past five years, we can see that our growing revenue has enabled us to donate more and more funds towards these particular activities. this is an achievement of which we can all be proud.’

2013 looks set to be an interesting year for egmont. ‘Over the next couple of years we will keep seeking to generate more screen-based revenue. Our goal is to increase the tv business, increase digital revenue and establish selective e-commerce business while continuing to produce media that consumers will find relevant and exciting.’

revenue by area

Read more about the charitable work of the Egmont Foundation on page 12.

By Niels Almer

Nordic countries

84%

outside nordic countries

16%

largest supplier of digital films for the vOd market. we published over 100 scandinavian magazines and weeklies containing inspiration and stories for millions of readers.

‘Our solid creative and commercial success is founded on innovative media products created by egmont’s employees and which give consumers powerful experiences,’ says steffen Kragh.

‘most of the profit we all help to generate is re-invested in our media business, but some also goes to charitable activities aimed at enhancing the lives of children and young people. in 2012 we earmarked 8 million euRO for this purpose. Looking back at the

eGMont

2012 brought an array of successful media products, progress in many business areas and stronger screen-based media. our operating profit increased by 25%, and our revenue was up 17% on last year.

in gOOd sHaPe

Read more about the individual divisions on page 30.

5

DENMARK

SWEDEN

NORWAY

UK

AUSTRALIA

CZECH REP.

GERMANY

TURKEY

BULGARIA ROMANIA

CROATIA

ESTONIA

CHINA

THAILAND

POLAND

UKRAINE

LATVIA LITHUANIA

HUNGARY

UNITED STATES

SOUTH AFRICA

RUSSIA

FINLAND

revenue (eUr million) oPeratinG ProFit eBit (eUr million) charitable donations (eUr million)

buSineSS areaS

2011 20112011 2011 20092012 2011 20112012 2012 2012 20082012 2012 2012 20102012 2012 20122012

0 7 11 18 25 33 2722 33 36 5.4139 6.0296 6.0339 6.7393 8.0445

Books

nordisk FilmmagazinesKids media

tV 2

Hig

HLi

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2012

January

Egmont acquires remainder of TV 2

egmont increases its ownership share in norway’s largest

commercial tv company from 50 to 100%. the price: nOK

2.1 billion. egmont takes a bold strategic step towards making tv a more prominent element

of its business profile.

May

Impressive figures from Kids Media in the Nordic region

in the nordic countries Kids media presents solid results for 2011. as of 2013 the nordic companies are known

collectively as Kids media nordic.

June

Egmont gains a place among top 50 companiesthe danish business magazine Berlingske Nyhedsmagasin publishes its annual image analysis of danish companies. egmont rises from its

number 63 position in 2011 to rank among the top 50 in 2012.

February

Eurowoman publishes its first ‘Super’ issue

the fashion industry generally frowns on expanding waistlines, but Eurowoman makes

a deliberate move to put on some weight when the magazine launches its first bumper

issue. with 308 pages, the issue is the magazine’s largest publication ever, only to be outdone by a new 316-page super issue

published in september.

March

Nordisk Film acquires Venue Pointnordisk Film acquires venue Point, which runs Billetlugen, Billetportalen and Billetforum, thereby taking an important step towards generating new digital business in the entertainment sector.

april

Bestselling authors for Lindhardt og Ringhofafter many years on the author lists of gyldendal, Politikens Forlag and C&K, Jens Christian grøndahl is now in the expert hands of Lindhardt og Ringhof, which is publishing the popular author’s latest novel, Før vi siger farvel.

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6 egmont stories march 2013

august

Kon-Tiki beats all recordswith 164,191 cinema ticket sales Kon-Tiki makes a huge splash at the record opening during its premiere weekend. this viewing figure is unprecedented for the opening weekend of a norwegian film. the film’s norwegian ticket sales top 900,000.

September

Digital Days is held in Båstad, Swedenthe digital days conference is held for egmont employees for the third year running. this year the focus is on mobile platforms and digital transactions.

october

40 million Danish kroner for children of divorce the egmont Foundation invests5.4 million euR

in helping children in broken families. Kicking off the project was an information

campaign on the danish public broadcaster ’dR’ during one week of the October.

november

New Egmont building opens in OsloOn 5 november 650 norwegian egmont staff move into a big new media house in Oslo. the building houses egmont Hjemmet mortensen, egmont Kids media, egmont Hm Fagmedia and nordisk Film under one roof.

December

Egmont takes over Oxygen Magasinerafter co-owning Oxygen magasiner for just over a year, egmont magasiner buys up the remaining shares to become sole owner of the company. Oxygen magasiner’s publications include the parenting magazines Vores Børn and Gravid.

July

Egmont UK moves to ‘The Yellow Building’

egmont’s two uK departments co-locate to new premises in London.

7


Prominent nominations for Kon-Tikithe norwegian epic managed to capture Hollywood’s

interest, as reflected in a golden globe nomination and an Oscar nomination in the ‘Best Foreign Language Film’ category for the film about the voyage of the norwegian

explorer thor Heyerdahl.

PrizeS Galoreegmont products once more figured prominently at a number of award ceremonies in 2012. the following is a sample from the year’s haul.

9

10. Two Silver Bears for A Royal Affaira historical tale about the 1770s danish court was the award-winning recipe for a silver Bear from Berlin, as A Royal Affair proved by receiving no less than two at the Berlin international Film Festival. the year ended with a flourish, with the danish blockbuster capturing both a golden globe nomination and an Oscar nomination for ‘Best Foreign Language Film’.

08. Euroman receives many kudos Once again the men’s magazine Euroman stole the show, carrying off several awards. Fmid, the association of magazine designers in denmark, also gave the publication an award for opening spread of the year, Skudlinjen, plus an award for story of the year, Boheme, an article about actor Pilou asbæk. the society of Publication designers also presented Euroman with a merit award.

09. Mattel honours Kids Mediamattel praised its good collaboration with egmont on several occasions during the course of the year. the first was at the mattel global Brand summit, where Kids media received two awards: ‘Best Licensee’ in the hardline products category and ‘the european Hot wheels Licensee of the year’. Later in the year egmont Russia and egmont Poland also won mattel awards at the mattel eastern europe Licensing summit.

05. Starfighters wins a ‘Rambuk’ for The Hunger Games campaignthis year’s Rambuk was presented at a gala dinner at denmark’s national museum. vizeum and starfighters won the ‘media strategy award’ for a campaign entitled The Hunger Games – are you ready for the next big thing?, about which you can read more in this issue.

07. A Hijacking receives two international film awards in Greecetobias Lindholm’s A Hijacking won the main prize for best film at the thessaloniki international Film Festival, where the international panel of film critics also awarded the film its ‘FiPResCi’ prize.

06. TV 2 receives accolade for GullrutenTV 2 played a prominent role in the battle for norway’s best tv awards 2012, walking off with four gullruten awards in may. these included the awards for best entertainment programme, Hver gang vi møtes, and best news programme, En liten øy i verden about utøya.

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02. Georg Brandes prize for Lindhardt og Ringhofin the book world, egmont received kudos in the form of the georg Brandes award 2012, presented by the literary guild, Litteraturkritikernes Lav. the prize went to publisher sune de souza schmidt-madsen for En lille bog om Blixen, published in september.

04. Focus on Mads Mikkelsen and The Hunt in Cannesthe box-office hit The Hunt featured mads mikkelsen in fine fettle, a performance that won him a golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival for ‘Best actor’. at the european Film awards later in the year thomas vinterberg and tobias Lindholm garnered the award for best european manuscript of the year for The Hunt.

03. Society of Publication Designers gives Golf Digest a Merit Award the society of Publication designers presented the swedish golfing publication Golf Digest with its prestigious magazine award, the merit award.

01. Mann earns distinctionat the annual media days festival in norway, Årets mediadager, the magazine Mann took the award for ‘Best Feature and Culture article’ with its feature article Sex & Sånn. the article was especially commended for the interviewees’ willingness to speak openly about intensely personal issues.

01


they can see the woodFor the treeS!the paper you hold in your hands is made from tree species growing all over the world. how can we make sure none of this paper comes from illegal forestry? this was the issue alison Kennedy set out to address when she took the first steps to establish the egmont grading system in 2003.

By Ann Sofie Senger

Corporate social Responsibility is a concept whereby private companies assume responsibility for the impact their daily activities have on society.

the desire to contribute to society is far from new to egmont. the egmont Foundation was established in 1920 for two purposes: first, to run a media company, and second, to support charitable causes.

today we do even more.most recently, we have signed the un global Compact, which obliges egmont to operate on 10 principles covering human rights, workers’ rights, the environment and anti-corruption.

in addition we have selected four focus areas where we want to make a difference (see info box). One of these initiatives is the sustainable sourcing of paper lead by sam mawson and alison Kennedy.

with this initiative, egmont uK is now a leader in ethical and sustainable book production in great Britain.

Sustainable books

the egmont grading system contains infor-mation about suppliers’ paper sources and evaluates them according to a number of sustainability criteria. Papers are graded on a scale from 1-5 depending on how sustainable they are. these grades are then entered into a database that publishers can use when making decisions relating to supplier chain management.

seen in a wider perspective, however, egmont’s sustainable book production is but a small step on the road to ethical

sustainability. this spurred alison to invite the entire publishing industry to join the initiative, a move that led to the development of an online database for paper sources in 2006. today PRePs – Publishers database for Responsible environmental Paper sourcing – is the world’s largest database of its kind.

Oxford university Press and sage Publications are just two of the industry publishers whose support for PRePs has been a tribute to alison and to the courage it took for egmont to pave the way for new industry standards. However, alison is keenly aware of how important the industry’s commitment and collaboration have been to the process:

‘naturally it’s very gratifying to be recognised as a leader in the field, but without the support of the publishing industry, we could not have achieved so much or have kept our information updated,’ she says.

today PRePs has 23 members working together to promote a common understanding of responsible supplier chains and environmental impact as it relates to paper.

ETHICAL SUPPLIER MANAGEMENT

egmont products must be produced under working conditions that are acceptable to each employee. suppliers are therefore required to comply with the written rules and expectations set out in egmont’s Code of Conduct.

A GOOD LIFE FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE

as a foundation, every year egmont donates a portion of its profits to charitable projects. in 2013 we donate euR 9.7 million to projects aimed at improving the lives of vulnerable children and young people.

Read more on www.egmont.com/CSR.

the project includes talks by greenpeace and a paper database covering 9,000 species of wood.

the publishing companies Cappelen damm and egmont vgs are now involved with the initiative, and the possibility of extending the project to egmont’s other book-production businesses is currently being evaluated.

’i think the biggest challenge will be that some of the small printers are bound to certain paper sellers who only offer a limited range of papers. this calls for further negotiation, just as it did for us here in the uK. But i am confident that whatever problems arise, we will be able to overcome them together,’ alison asserts.

in the future egmont will continue to have PRePs as a CsR focus area that adds value both within egmont and in the surrounding world. after all, paper and ink still account for over half our revenue.

1111

they can see the woodFor the treeS!

sam mawson and alison Kennedy work to promote ethical and sustainable book production.

SAFE INTERNET

egmont wants children to have a safe experience on all media platforms. we therefore focus on providing responsible digital content, marketing and communication for our youngest users.

PREPS AND PIPS

egmont is a leading company in product safety and sustainable book production. For this reason, we are members of PRePs and PiPs – two initiatives that give egmont uK access to information evaluating paper sources and the chemicals used in book production.


VIOLENCE domestic violence has a serious impact on a child’s well-being, development and learning. about 22,000 children in denmark live in families affected by violence.

PARENTS IN PRISON Having an incarcerated parent weighs heavily on a child. many do poorly at school and suffer from feelings of shame, stigmatisation and depression.

FILM SUPPORTthe nordisk Film Foundation is an independent part of the egmont Foundation. through the nordisk Film Foundation, the egmont Foundation donates funds to nurture creative talent, develop the film industry and uphold danish film culture.

LEARNINGmany schoolchildren are inadequately motivated or have extreme social problems at school. some leave primary school without basic danish and maths skills. without help and support many of them would grow up to a low quality of life, low income and few job opportunities.

MENTAL VULNERABILITYChildren who suffer from eating disorders, anxiety or mental conditions are vulnerable and need help and support to cope with their problems.

PLACEMENT OUTSIDE THE HOMEevery year about 12,000 children and young people in denmark are placed outside the home. these children often have a family history of violence, abuse and continuous neglect.

ILLNESS AND DEATHwithout the right care and support, a child who falls seriously ill or loses a close relative risks never recovering from the trauma and grief.

DIVORCED PARENTS One in three children in denmark experiences the divorce of its parents. a conflict-ridden divorce can threaten a child’s development.

support provided by euR 9.7 million.

• Projects for children and young people: euR 8.2 million

• Help for vulnerable children and families: euR 1.0 million

• Film support via the nordisk Film Foundation: euR 0.5 million

THE EGMONT FOUNDATION IN 2013

violence

learninGParentsin PriSon

DiVorceD ParentS

PLacement oUtsiDethe hoMe

Mental VULneraBiLity

FiLmSuPPort

illneSSanD Death

13

a helPinG hanDFOR vuLneRaBLe CHiLdRen and FamiLies

By Katrine Bach Habersaat

in addition to the permanent focus areas (overview on left page), some of the support is earmarked for Christmas presents and Christmas food. in 2012 about 800 children benefited from the egmont Foundation’s Christmas Help.

every year the egmont Foundation’s aid and grant administration gets letters from grateful parents who have received help at Christmas. you can read two examples below. the two families have each received:

• a grocery gift voucher – dKK 300 for each person in the household.

• a present for each child in the family.

Dear Egmont Foundation!

thank you very, very much for the Christmas help!You have no idea how much it means to the children and me, it has been such a tough year with three deaths, illness and more.

So it means the world to me to be able to give them a wonderful Christmas, especially this year!They have lost their great-grandfather, grand-father and grandmother on their father’s side, their father is about to serve a prison sentence, and I have been ill for nearly nine months and have lost 25 kg. So they really need to be treated to something special, and without your generosity it would have been impossible.

A thousand, thousand thanks.You saved our Christmas and much more!

Dear Egmont Foundation

Thank you very much for the wonderful letter about Christmas help, which I received today. It was a really lovely surprise, and I would like to thank you, this is really a big thing.

It is great that there are foundations that can make such a difference to people like me, who unintentionally find themselves in financial difficulties.

You have saved Christmas for me and my children and I am deeply grateful for that.

Living in a family with few financial and social resources has serious ramifications for children. they may lack stability and security, and cannot join in social activities with their peers. For this reason, every year the egmont Foundation extends financial help to some of the most vulnerable children and families in Denmark.


‘Kon-Tiki has demonstrated what

can be produced on a shoestring by Hollywood

standards.’

Henrik Zein siw skjervold

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a norDic FilM Fairy taleLast year nordisk Film Production was in charge of shooting the second most expensive film in nordisk Film’s history – the norwegian epic Kon-tiki. the story is about thor heyerdahl, the norwegian explorer who ventured on a dangerous expedition to cross the Pacific ocean on a raft. now, almost 900,000 ticket sales and a golden globe and an oscar nomination later, we look back on the making of the nordic blockbuster.

By Nanna Mosegaard

FAcTS AbouT ThE movIE

• the opening weekend in norway broke all records, beating max manus with the highest number of tickets sold.

• the gala opening in the Opera House was held in the presence of the king and queen of norway.

• the making of Kon-tiki cost nOK 93 mil-lion and was produced with support from the norwegian and danish film institutes and others.

• Kon-tiki was nominated for both a golden globe and an Oscar.

thor Heyerdahl set off on his great adventure with fingers crossed that his vessel would remain afloat, and like the man the norwegian epic portrays, its producers had to take a calculated risk when they launched production. embarking on a project as costly as Kon-Tiki is a hazardous undertaking in itself.

two risks particularly concerned Henrik Zein, general manager of nordisk Film Production: ‘Higher ambitions naturally bring higher risk. One risk is that production costs will rise unforeseeably sharply along the way. another is that the film will flop and the money be irrecoverable. so being able to monitor the budget at all times was important to us. we also knew that every krone spent had to shine through on-screen. and all in all, i believe we achieved this. the successful management of the production is due in no small measure to the efforts of aage aaberg. when it came to taking the film to market, we were in the peerless hands of Lone Korslund and her team in the nordic region and, in particular, the norwegian distribution team in norway.’

no expense has been spared, with underwater film shots, spectacular visual effects and shoots coordinated in six countries. ‘the reports we’re now getting from the usa are that they don’t quite get how we could make the film on what they see as a low budget. For us the budget was a fortune. this also made the director and the rest of his team extremely interesting to

the americans. aage aaberge in particular, because he has shown what can be achieved on a shoestring by Hollywood standards,’ says Henrik Zein.

larger-than-life stories

the decision to stake so much on the Kon-tiki story evinces egmont’s vision of fascinating stories as driving forces.

in recent years nordisk Film has focused on investing in fewer but larger-scale productions. nordisk Film wants to tell stories that transcend the borders of their native countries – reaching out into the nordic region, out into the world. Read more on page 30.

‘it’s a story that appeals to others than just norwegians. it’s a story that the vast majority of people will be able to relate to and find exciting. Having such visionary directors as espen sandberg and Joachim Rønning on board also made a difference,’ explains Henrik Zein, continuing:

‘On reflection, you could say that in many ways a direct line runs from 1947 when thor Heyerdahl set sail to October 2012 when Felix Baumgartner skydived from an altitude of 39 km. Both stories embody an inexplicable drive. what makes people willing to risk their lives? this is a story larger than our own lives.’

a success story

since its opening night last august in norway, Kon-Tiki has proved that it can pay to go the extra mile. generally, the Kon-tiki adventure has proved to be a success story in nordisk Film’s endeavours to create great nordic blockbusters. siw skjervold, PR manager for nordisk Film distribution in norway, has never seen anything like it: ‘this is bigger than anything i’ve been involved in during my 15 years with nordisk Film. Press and public interest in the film have been enormous right from the day we announced we were going to make a film about thor Heyerdahl’s Kon-tiki expedition.’

aLF HILDRUM

Managing Director, TV 2 Group

in 2009 the tv 2 group’s advertising revenue dropped by about 20% due to the general recession in the norwegian advertising market. the decline necessitated extensive cost and staff cuts. the company had to accept business consolidation and trim its expenditures in both 2008 and 2009. as a result, in the past two years tv 2 has recorded its best financial performance in the company’s 20-year history.

maintaining morale in tiMeS oF harDShiP

motiVation

maintaining morale in tiMeS oF harDShiP

JannicKe HAUGEN

Managing Director, Egmont Kids Media Nordic

a desire to lower costs and benefit from cross-border synergy effects generated by rights negotiations, for example, spurred egmont to integrate the three scandinavian Kids media companies into one: Kids media nordic. in 2011 Jannicke was appointed CeO of Kids media nordic, and restructuring rounds have been regular occurrences since then. in 2012 the company significantly improved its results.

Managing Director, Lindhardt og Ringhof

when Lars took over as CeO of Lindhardt og Ringhof in april 2011, his aim was to create a modern publishing house in an industry that had experienced years of publishing challenges. He focused on developing a flatter organisational structure and strengthening ties with authors. From 2011 the organisation underwent overhauls and cutbacks, until 2012 when an economic turnaround put the publishing company back in the black.

Lars BOESGAARD


managers and employees are often put into situations that require them to think and act differently. tackling the emotional consequences of change can be a challenge. the solution: open, honest and frequent communication.

’setting clear, common goals is a must. in 2011 the nordic Kids media companies developed a new organisational structure intended to underpin the changes. we had to focus on the need to set and prioritise our common goals. One way of doing this was

to repeatedly communicate where we were heading. i had to show that i didn’t have a hidden agenda,’ explains Jannicke Haugen, managing director, egmont Kids media nordic.

managing a change process demands respect for people. this respect is best shown by communicating openly with employees

throughout the process, thus involving and motivating them while also fostering a willingness to change.

’as a manager i have a great responsibility to create change readiness. to this end, i strive to provide open, honest communication that enables everyone to understand our need for change. i inspire respect and credibility when my staff can sense that management is

prepared to take some risk and forge the way. this will also better enable them to accept the mistakes their managers will inevitably make,’ says Lars Boesgaard, managing director, Lindhardt og Ringhof.

’employees need to understand the importance of change, but you can’t expect everyone to agree with the initiatives. Organisationally, tv 2 was caught off-guard when the crisis struck, and our main tasks were to document the need for change and involve staff at every stage,’ alf Hildrum, managing director of the tv 2 group, adds.

no shortcuts

alf stresses that it is only human to feel insecure when tasks and procedures change. ‘employees will always have numerous questions whenever changes are made in their workplace, and they will try to make sense of the situation. Cutbacks and major restructuring

Alf’s recommendation’Document the need for change and make

time for dialogue’

Jannicke’s recommendation

’Prioritise common goals, communicate often and remember

to celebrate successes along

the way’

By Maria Alsted Junget og Henning Nørby Nielsen

Despite egmont’s healthy profit in 2012, a few companies are facing critical times. other egmont companies once in similar situations have now emerged from successful change processes. egmont stories has looked into what it takes to motivate employees in times of hardship and find blue sky behind the dark clouds of crisis.

An EmployEE SpEAkS ouT

Lene Fabricius Christensen, Editor, Egmont Kids Media Nordic

’Personally i believe that lots of information is important when major changes occur. management must keep us informed about what’s going on so we as employees can feel confident.’

19

are emotional issues. the challenge is to do your groundwork thoroughly and execute the solution as fast as possible. taking time to talk to your staff afterwards is also important,’ he says.‘we held one-on-one meetings with everyone,’ Lars explains. ’it gave me a chance to reach every corner of the company and clear up any misunderstandings or speculation. we played

with open cards from the outset – for example, letting our colleagues in on the finances and thus the role they each play towards genera-ting them. as a result, people take ownership and unite behind the cause. i seize every op-portunity to air my views in public and defend my beliefs. my employees needs to hear both the good and bad news from me, and i’ve made a virtue of personally bringing up the critical issues.’

‘we’ve focused special attention on updating employees and providing opportunities to share knowledge, for example, through our monthly nordic newsletter and local coffee get-togethers as well as the annual strategy meetings attended by all employees. we also make a point of having fun – it’s important to celebrate our successes along the way,’ Jannicke points out.

Restructuring rounds, recession, rationalisation and new technology make

change projects part and parcel of a normal working day at egmont. some are more pressing than others. all the managers interviewed here have generated good results in tough times. Openness, honesty and frequent communication seem to be key to creating change-ready companies at egmont, however rapidly the barometer drops.

Lars’ recommendation’Put all your cards

on the table – communicate openly, honestly and simply

be visible’


Kristin Grimstad, Project Manager, TV 2 Norway

‘i greatly appreciate honesty and constructive information from management about the changes to be made. there has to be a plan behind the information given and for each individual’s next steps in the process.’


Dennis Andersen, Press Coordinator, Lindhardt og Ringhof

’Frequent, open communication is absolutely essential. in my experience, it’s all the speculation that causes the uncertainty, so the better the insecurity can be contained, the more successful the process will be. Lars and Cliff (Boesgaard and Hansen, ed.) were very approachable, encouraging dialogue at every step. this lightens the atmosphere and fuels a good team spirit.’

egmont stories marts 201320

televiSionPlayrooMMaGazineorbook

We may have held back in the past, but 2012 was a turning point. after our initial experiments in 2010 egmont is now a major supplier to numerous app stores.

the virtual shelves of both apple’s and google’s app stores are currently stocked with over 700,000 apps. in other words the app market is now a raging sea of attention-seeking icons clamouring for a place on your already crowded touch screen. and with good reason, because apps really work: not by outcompeting other digital options – websites are alive and kicking – but because they offer customised experiences that fully exploit the unique features of this platform. none less than Facebook itself had to bow to this truth last year when it decided to restructure its iPhone app on apple’s terms. mean what you like about closed software eco-systems, users have definitely embraced them.

200 apps in one year

with this in mind, Kids media made an ambitious resolution for 2012: to publish 200 apps (or versions of apps) in one year. they beat their own target. as people were launching their new year rockets just a couple of months ago, Kids media had notched up no fewer than 205 apps.

nordisk Film also joined in the app party, launching Min Bio, a digital children’s cinema for 2-8-year-olds, in september 2012. Here, youngsters can hang out with their friends from Petzi and Jungle Jack as well as many other well-liked children’s characters. The

By Jonas Heide Smith


Magazine kiosk (Euroman)

an ambitious example of a digital magazine that goes after not only high

sales figures but also subscriber retention and customer loyalty.

Smurfs also feature in Min Bio, while more dedicated fans can additionally find the blue troublemakers in their very own app and play memory games in between the films.

Follow the trend on egmontapps.com, which gathers all of egmont’s apps for children on one site.

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televiSionPlayrooMMaGazineorbook

Smurfs (Nordisk Film)

cartoons and memory games. customers get a

free film and paid access to 16 others.

Min Bio (Nordisk Film)customers get free access to five films. a DKK 45 subscription gives access to over 150 films.

Petzi (Kids Media)customers can enjoy a free trial of all activities. additional content can be bought.

H.C. Andersen (Lindhardt og Ringhof)the customer receives a free fairy tale, with the option of buying more stories and 16 films.

Donald Duck replica(Kids Media)stories of the world’s most unfortunate duck can be purchased on iPad for 25 DKK per weekly issue. the first historical edition from 1949 is free.

Fusentasterne(Kids Media)

educational series of games for the very

youngest. the games come in a range of prices

and have no in-app purchases at all.

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Pixeline Stjernehotellet (Kids Media)turn a little hotel on the island of solø into a multi-star hotel.

selected activities are free, after which users can buy hotel equipment, etc.

Sumo(TV 2)on sumo, the viewer becomes head of his own television channel. in 2013, the service passed 100.000 subscribers.

By Johanne Viken Sandnes

Bertine Zetlitzfrom Hver Gang Vi Møtes

tV 2 Unites norWay

the queSt For unForGettable MoMentS in 2012 tV 2 launched its new vision: ‘We strive to create unforgettable moments’ – and the channel did just that in the past year.

23

tv 2 turned 20 last year, taking the opportunity to launch the main channel’s new vision and core values. the vision – ‘we want to create unforgettable moments’ – builds on the values to captivate, engage and challenge.

Programme director nils Ketil andresen headed up the project to formulate the new vision and core values:

‘after giving the channel profiles a major overhaul, we concluded that the profile of tv 2’s main channel had become too vague, which had weakened our brand in viewers’ eyes,’ explains nils.

to change the situation, management set about creating a new vision.

‘we have now put a distinctive mark on the main channel. tv 2 must be the channel that represents the pulse of the norwegian community at large. Over the past couple of years, many people at tv 2 have demanded clearer leadership and direction. we believe that values give a company its bearings. the new vision has rejuvenated us and made our direction clear.’

For staff who work with the channel’s content the quest for unforgettable moments never ends:

‘we need a goal at which to aim, and the new vision gives us just that. we have created many unforgettable moments over the past 20 years and need to keep on creating more. we may not be able to create unforgettable moments every single day, but the quest is unceasing for all tv 2 staff,’ nils explains.

Magical moments

in spring tv 2 launched a big, new project, Hver Gang Vi Møtes. in the programme, seven well-known norwegian musicians meet at a farm. every day, six of the musicians celebrate the seventh, each interpreting one of the main person’s songs. the success of the series was assured even before the premiere: an interpretation of Halvdan sivertsen’s Sommerfugl i Vinterland by rapper vinnie spread like wildfire through the social media, logging hundreds of thousands of views before the programme started.

to make unforgettable moments. it unites viewers from all generations and sets the stage for music magic. musicians familiar to the parents’ generation meet musicians who attract younger audiences. the programme has broad appeal, bringing the whole family together in front of the tv on saturday evenings,’ says nils Ketil andresen.

Falling viewing figures reversed

at the end of 2012 tv 2 managed to reverse the main channel’s declining viewing figures. it ended up with a market share of 19.3%, exactly the same as in 2011. the management of tv 2 has now set itself the target of exceeding 20% in the coming years.

another audience success in 2012 was Farmen, in which 14 participants go back in time to run a farm as it used to be a century ago. two contestants in the 10-week series compete weekly for a chance to stay with the programme. the prize for the ultimate winner is a house and a car.

Farmen was first shown on tv 2 in 2001, which makes this its eighth season. Last year 19-year-old ingvild skare thygesen made off with first prize. she is the youngest competitor ever, and many viewers followed her path to glory.

the finale of Farmen on 16 december 2012 achieved the highest viewer ratings of all the programme finales, outdone only by the 2003 finale. in the week of the finale tv 2 recorded its highest number of viewers since 2010.

‘Farmen’s ability to hold its position, delivering the goods season after season like this proves that we’ve found a concept that engages and strikes home for norwegians,’ says nils.

On the same day that tv 2 aired the finale of Farmen, the norwegian women’s team played in the european handball championship final against montenegro. the match clocked up 1,066,000 viewers and captured a share of 74.1%.

‘that day tv 2’s vision became reality,’ explains nils andresen. ‘But we can’t have handball and Farmen finals every day. we have to carry on our daily work of finding lasting moments – on all of our channels.’

the programme director is pleased that employees have embraced the vision. the 2012 employee satisfaction survey shows that 93% believe the vision matches the channel. in nils’ view, their support determines whether tv 2 can live up to the vision:

‘we can only express the values onscreen if we work with them behind the scenes on a daily basis. the vision is not only for the editorial staff to pursue – but for everyone

who works here. it’s about the way we come across. many probably think it must be demanding to have to appear ever-charming, challenging and committed, and there may be a grain of truth to that. But nonetheless everyone at tv 2 must use the values as the basis for their work, and i feel everyone wants to do that.’

1.1 million viewers followed the finale of Farmen, figures that resulted in a

58% share.

in 2013 the first four episodes of Hver Gang Vi Møtes had 915,000 viewers and captured a 46% share.

nils Ketil andresen

Hver Gang Vi Møtes became a huge hit with audiences, watched by an average 597,000 viewers and capturing a 32% share. the second season is currently running on tv 2, with viewing figures higher than for the first.

‘Hver Gang Vi Møtes is a programme that truly epitomises the main channel’s vision


egmonttravellersmany egmont employees work in more than one company without thinking twice. several of egmont’s business areas see advantages in working globally. egmont stories caught up with four employees on the fly.

By Henning Nørby Nielsen and Maria Alsted Junget

Job i minimise risk by centralising the purchasing and handling of toys for children’s magazines. Favourite destination Hong Kong

What do you always take with you when you travel? macBook

bonus info i’m a ‘cricket mum’ with two sports-mad sons!

Job i head up the sales departments for sony and Playstation in the nordic and Baltic countries. Favourite destination Los angeles (e3 gaming fair)

What do you always take with you when you travel? Ps vita

bonus info i have an indian father and a Finnish mother.

Suman RathDirector - head of nordisk Film interactivenumber of travel days per year: 80

Kerrie Culffsourcing Director, Kids medianumber of travel days per year: 100

25

Read more about the year in retrospect for Kids media on page 31.

Job i make sure our products comply with our requirements and those of the sales countries. Favourite destination Himalaya

What do you always take with you when you travel? sudoko book

bonus info i ran 1,250 km in 2012.

Job i take care of egmont’s relationship with disney in order to strengthen egmont’s position. Favourite destination south africa

What do you always take with you when you travel? iPad

bonus info i own a charming Chihuahua called tinkerbell (dog on iPad, ed.)

employees who travel on behalf of egmont are often in contact with a wide variety of cultures, and our four roaming colleagues broadly agree on the importance of openness and a certain amount of cultural awareness.

suman: ‘An international mindset is very important in my job. There are many ways of describing it, but it means having a sensitive approach to different cultures and customers.’

neither will preconceptions get you anywhere in a global job.

silvia: ‘You have to drop your prejudices if you work with different cultures. You have to meet people with an open mind.’

aage: ‘If, like me, your work involves interfacing with many different cultures, you need to be aware that people may do things differently – for example, they may approach planning and organising differently.’

Global coordination

Coordinating tasks and decisions across cultures, borders and organisations can be quite tricky at times.

aage: ‘Organisations are complex entities, often with diverging goals and deadlines, and the challenge is to get everything to come together – and this takes open communication as well as a certain amount of persistence.’

silvia: ‘Switching from local to global is a challenge, since not all decisions made globally are geared to local needs. In this respect an unswerving global approach is crucial, and you also have to bear in mind that the overarching goal is to generate growth for the business as a whole.’

Coordination can be a challenge if you rarely or maybe even never meet your colleagues.

Kerrie: ‘Building relationships and facilitating cooperation is challenging but also essential in my role. Many of the team members in our global setup have never met

each other or seldom meet, yet they still have to work together closely.’

egmont glue

is there a definitive answer to what being an egmont employee means? no, probably not, but our four globetrotters can nonetheless spot similarities as they travel around egmont: creativity, passion for the local business and consumer focus seem to be some of the distinctive qualities of the egmont culture.

silvia: ‘I know Egmont first and foremost through my years of working for Disney. The work culture embodies great knowledge of the publishing industry, creative skill and an admirable balance between work and family life. Now that I’m part of Egmont myself, I can only confirm that my first impressions were correct!’.

Silvia FiginiVice President global Disney, Kids medianumber of travel days per year: 100

Aage S. HillersborgQuality & safety Director, egmontnumber of travel days per year: 60


the first iPhone saw the light of day in 2007, and in just a few years the market for smartphone apps exploded. 2010 saw the launch of apple’s iPad, and now, almost three years later, it is hard to find a child without access to touch devices. Children born today have become known as ‘generation touch’ – they can swipe and scroll before they can walk.

developing products for this target group poses the unique challenge that there is no way of knowing what they will want. this notwithstanding, a few trends are emerging: ‘Children will expect more interactive elements in the future, but users wanting to read a good book don’t need all sorts of additional elements that might confuse the narrative. On the other hand, interactive components are well suited to an app focusing on play and learning. my view right now is that

generation touch

pregnancy 0-5 6-12 13-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50+

Vores Børn/Gravidmagazine for mothers-to-be. Foreldre & Barnwebsite for parents-to-be.

Bamse för de yngstamagazine for young children who cannot read yet.Silke – Syng, leg og lærapp featuring Pixeline’s little sister silke, including singing and aBC activities.

ElevLabOffers access to approx. 10,000 digital educational resources such as animations, written assignments and tests. War Horsemichael morpurgo’s success novel about the First world war seen through the eyes of a warhorse named Joey.

Wenn der Schnee mein Herz berürtRomantic novel about Jane and Paul,

who find themselves alone in the frozen tundra after an air crash.

Standpunktevery year Capplen damm akademisk

publishes over 200 titles in most higher education subjects

Born with touch devices, wild about brands and don’t mind giving you their frank opinion.

keeping the two things separate is a good idea,’ believes Peter schrøder, digital director at Kids media.

an app store full of options

generation touch differs from earlier generations of children in that they have a far more vast array of choice. toy shops have bigger product ranges, a single children’s channel has mushroomed into six, not to mention the myriad children’s apps now available for download. this all makes it difficult for companies to stand out from the crowd. ‘we can reach our target audience fast, but the trick is retaining them and climbing up the app store lists,’ says Peter schrøder. Companies must either have the right brands, such as Petzi and Pixeline, which continue to captivate children and their parents, or offer some amazing novelty.

nonetheless, companies have to get their products to market fast, collect feedback and then further develop the products. this feedback comes from both children and adults who voice their opinions on Facebook and in app store reviews. ‘their response is immediate and brutally honest. it’s fantastic!’

By Mie Bach Andersen

gEnERATIon Touch

One in three families with young children has a tablet that the children use relatively often.

IPAD USE:

• 0-3 years: two in five children play with an iPad (average 39 min/day).

• 4-7 years: two in three children play with an iPad (average 54 min/day).

WHAT THEY PREFER:

• Children age 0-4: tv

• Children age 5-7: iPad

• Children age 8-12: laptop/PC

source: Bron: Research ienemienemedia, may 2, 2012

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pregnancy 0-5 6-12 13-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50+

By Mie Bach Andersen

this is how Joakim norling, web editor at egmont tidskrifter, describes the ‘generation Crossword’ segment. as project manager of the ‘Kvinnor 50+’ [women 50+] project since 2012, he has gained extensive insight into the digital media behaviour of older target groups.

members of these groups typically have plenty of time, especially the older members, and are thus looking for a broad palette of activities, preferably entertainment such as easy games and crosswords. they have largely embraced the web, but are still less present than younger women. there is nothing wrong with their curiosity, though. they have a keen interest in almost everything the web has to offer, including social media. However, they are extremely cautious, often being members of a social community for a while before starting to interact with others. this attitude also influences their use of the web for shopping. ‘those of us who

inquisitive, appreciate social activity and need a high security level.

generation croSSworD

KINGFashion magazine for cosmopolitan swedish men.ELLEthe world’s biggest fashion magazine is available in 42 countries and published by egmont in norway.

Premier Leaguetv 2 has broadcast the Premier League in norway for three years. Nettavisen.noHas 1.4 million weekly readers and is published for the web, iPad and smartphone platforms.

Gastromagazine for epicurean men who enjoy food, wine, gadgets and travel. Min Kamp by Karl Ove Knausgårda massive six-volume autobiography.

Hjemmetscandinavia’s cosiest weekly.

Kryssord.nomembers solve crosswords, sudoku

puzzles and other brain-teasers.

work with the target group online need to understand that we have to guide them and offer an environment that feels safe and reliable when they shop on the web,’ says Joakim norling.

challenges

One way of creating a secure user environment is to have ambassadors – existing members – who can help the other members. ambassadors are also used as a test panel for various proposed changes. ‘we recently made a number of minor changes to the front page and discussed them with the ambassadors before the launch,’ explains norling. He continues: ‘another challenge is the need for patience. when you launch a new service or change, you usually want instant confirmation and feedback, but that’s not how this target group works. if they think something is bad, they just leave without a word. it’s a bit scary.’

gEnERATIon cRoSSWoRd

• 67% of 55-64-year-old danes use the internet daily or nearly every day. the figure for 65-74-year-olds is 47%.

• the percentage of danes over 65 who have never used the internet dropped from 53% in 2010 to 38% in 2012.

• 39% of 55-64-year-old danish mobile phone users use the web browser on their mobile phones.

• 68% of 55-64-year-old danes who use the internet have bought products on the internet.

source: danmarks statistik: http://www.dst.dk/pukora/epub/upload/17443/itanv.pdf


DO’S

• try to approximate the target group’s jargon.

• use competitions to achieve visibility (but read Facebook’s promotion guidelines first).

• Respond fast to questions and other requests.

DON’TS

• do not perceive other ambassadors for the product as competitors. try instead to cooperate.

• do not forget your fan base, even though the product might no longer have relevance. try to get fans to move on to the next product or to your homepage.

• drop the secrecy. social media can be used long before the product is launched.

Jonas Juhler and sanne Jacobsen atnordisk Film’s advertising agency starfighters

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love itor leave itsocial media have become commonplace, but your campaign approach to social media should be unique. run-of-the-mill marketing spells doom for a campaign. nordisk Film’s advertising agency starfighters knows from experience: When it comes to marketing via social media, love and personality are all that users ‘like’.

hungER gAmES

the Hunger games campaign had almost nothing to build on since awareness of the product was minimal. the strategy work started a whole 18 months before the planned premiere, and two resources were identified at the outset: the original book version and the many twilight fans who might be enticed to try something new. a decision was made jointly with gyldendal to distribute 20,000 sample sections from the book to the target group. meanwhile, the twilight Facebook page was used to spur the films’ many fans to take a closer look at the new series.

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

THE FIVE STEPS

1. identify the product’s ‘social potential’ (target group, long-term viability, etc) to determine whether activity on social media makes sense. also think over what you want to happen with your ‘fans’ when the product is no longer pertinent.

2. Create pages, etc. this takes a minute, and no harm done if they are unused.

3. ensure the ‘product owner’ is willing to provide access to material, behind-the-scenes info, etc.

4. Find the right community manager. Preferably a person who loves both the product and social media.

5. Be present, listen, participate and get users to feel like they are part of something exciting.

‘How long should an update be? What words should I use?’

Be honest. the thought of thousands of users virally sharing news about your latest product with everyone they know is pretty pleasing.

‘and it’s as simple as that,’ laughs Jonas Juhler, referring to the slightly capricious world-will-never-be-the-same talk that has enveloped social media in some circles. as a digital strategist at starfighters, the advertising agency used by nordisk Film, Jonas is at the table when the company’s films are to be promoted. this has given him immense experience in identifying a product’s ‘social potential’, experience that carries over to books, apps and other products.

‘we start by looking at the target group and the long-term potential,’ he explains. ‘if

we’re dealing with a series of films for a young target audience, the possibilities are virtually endless, and it’s simply a question of rolling up our sleeves. But if it’s a film title with a narrower appeal to, say, an older segment, we need to adopt a totally different approach.’

However, Facebook is pivotal to all the various campaigns and, for many, virtually synonymous with social media. ‘and for good reason,’ says Jonas. ‘we readily experiment with other platforms, but when it comes to the customers themselves, Facebook currently reigns supreme for generating visibility in scandinavia.’

Of course, this is not always the case. sanne Jacobsen is a community manager at starfighters and spends a good part of her day on Facebook’s status update box. ‘But twitter is also an important part of the mix,’ she says. ‘i use it for contact with journalists and other professionals. this is also why i never automatically feed my posts from Facebook to twitter; it would never work.’

But while we’re on the subject of the nitty-gritty, what dOes work? time and energy are key. essentially, social media cost nothing to use, but vast numbers of people are jostling to be heard, so making one voice rise above the rest requires a huge, concerted effort. it is not something you do when you have a spare moment. ‘we must have spent 120 hours on the Hunger games campaign,’ says sanne.

‘Personal commitment is non-negotiable,’ says Jonas. ‘the technical side is straightforward enough, but if you’re only doing what’s expected of you, it will shine through immediately. One way or another you have to love it. you have to have a hunger and a vanity that makes you go that extra mile.’

sanne agrees but also thinks that constant

receptiveness is another key to success. ‘How long should an update be? what words should i use? Of course, Facebook gives you explicit, instant feedback, so you can always grow wiser. Right now, for example, i’ve had success with posting updates at 6 pm, because that means they are ready and waiting for people after they’ve eaten and put their kids to bed. it works.’

By Jonas Heide Smith


‘2012 was an eventful year for the magazine business,’ says torsten Bjerre Rasmussen, executive vice President, egmont magazines. ‘this was the year that we closed our printing offices in norway and denmark, outsourcing all printing of our magazines and weeklies. this will reduce our revenue since we used to have external printing customers, but the closure will have highly favourable impact on our cost levels. the magazines division returned strong results, and considering the challenging market we are very satisfied with the development, while our competitors seem

‘in 2012 tv 2 celebrated 20 years as a healthy, leading-edge and strong media business in growth, even though we have yet to fully meet some of our goals. tv 2 also achieved its second-best operating profit, its best having been in 2011,’ explains alf Hildrum, managing director of tv 2.

‘in our jubilee month a persistent, negative viewing trend crept into the main channel’s figures. Reversing this trend was imperative for tv 2, even though we came short of our goal to capture a 20% share.

in 2012 tv 2 started working with core values and a sharper profile. Our ambition is to create unforgettable moments. we must challenge, engage and charm. the organisation enthusiastically embraced this challenge, which has proved an important benchmark in our efforts to reach consumers with a more explicit and clearer profile. a new, modern studio also gave news and sports a visual and technical lift.

with a solid mix of old and new entertainment concepts, tv 2 is norway’s leading commercial media entertainer. tv 2 was the supreme weekend entertainment channel for several weeks in the autumn, with the Farmen final racking up over one million viewers.’

‘2012 was a good year for nordisk Film, with a slew of successful film launches throughout the nordic region, produced both in-house and by other film companies. several beat the magic target of over half-a-million ticket sales,’ says allan Hansen, executive vice President, egmont nordisk Film.

‘in denmark our cinemas sold 6.1 million tickets, and nordisk Film is also the nordic region’s leading supplier of digital films for the video-on-demand market. this is a growth market that we foresee will expand further in 2013.

in norway we enjoyed a resounding success with our in-house production, Kon-Tiki, which sold over 900,000 tickets in its home market and was nominated for a golden globe and an Oscar along with A Royal Affair, produced by the joint-venture company Zentropa and which notched up half-a-million tickets in denmark alone.

in recent years at nordisk Film we have focused more assertively on investing in fewer but larger-scale productions. we hope this strategy will help secure broader box-office hits throughout the nordic region. Our two Oscar nominations are tangible evidence that our strategy has paid off.

in 2012 we also kick-started nordisk Film Live, which was off and running after selling 60,000 tickets for the Hey Jude theatre concert. we’re looking forward to more live entertainment ventures in the years ahead.‘

EGMONT magaZines

in February 2012 egmont acquired a-Pressen’s shares in tv 2, making egmont the sole owner of tv 2’s.

tv 2 sumo is norway’s largest commercial supplier of internet-based tv, boasting over 100,000 paying subscribers.

in 2012 nordisk Film distributed one in every six cinema films shown in the nordic countries.

to have had greater difficulty tackling the market downturn.

Family magazines are still an attractive part of our portfolio even though circulation figures continued to drop in 2012. illustrated weeklies are also under pressure, while magazines are generally performing better, with some titles actually enjoying boosted circulation.

in the new year we will continue to invest in print media, but will concentrate on digital business. as part of our subscription marketing strategy, in 2012 we launched a number of our magazines in iPad versions. we also acquired various popular websites in the course of the year, including blogg.no via nettavisen in norway and the remainder of Vægtkonsulenterne and Oxygen media in denmark. Further acquisitions in 2013 are alpha and omega to our growth.’

norDisK FILM

TV2 groUP

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2012 was a banner year for Lindhardt og Ringhof, which generated a profit after several loss-making years, organisational adjustments and a new management.

‘we made some bold investments in developing and consolidating our digital products. Our schoolbook publisher, alinea, has committed itself to a large-scale digital initiative aimed to ensure we can remain denmark’s largest supplier of both analogue and digital learning materials in future,’ says Lars Boesgaard, CeO, Lindhardt og Ringhof.

Cappelen damm chalked up another good year despite zero growth in the market as a whole. acquiring the publishing company akribe strengthened its position as a publisher of books and electronic products for the nursing sector.

‘we recorded good results in 2012, although we had no major bestsellers. established authors like Lars saabye Christensen, vigdis Hjorth and ingvar ambjørnsen sold well, as did political biographies and children’s books. i believe Cappelen damm deserves to be called a broad publisher,’ says tom Harald Jenssen, managing director, Cappelen damm.

the results give Cappelen damm a solid platform for proactive campaigns in a wide variety of publishing areas as well as scope to think innovatively and further develop digital products already in the making.

‘2012 was a challenging year, but despite the bleak market conditions, particularly in Central and eastern europe, all our companies have either improved or maintained their market shares,’ says Frank Knau, executive vice President, egmont Kids media.

‘in Kids media we have focused on revitalising our core business by boosting our market-leading position through investments in global rights and market expansions. For example, at the end of 2012 we took over disney’s business in south africa, including their portfolio of five titles.

Our investments in 2012 reflect our transformation from print to multiplatform publisher. we launched over 200 apps globally and secured key digital rights from disney, Hasbro, mattel, warner Brothers, King Features, moviestar Planet and angry Birds in addition to a range of regional brands. we’re looking forward to the next steps in this endeavour in 2013,’ says Frank Knau.

EGMONT KiDs meDia

EGMONTBooKs

egmont has been creating stories for disney for more than 50 years.

Cappelen damm is co-owned by the swedish publisher Bonnier.


north And southegmont’s universe extends to many remote parts of the world.We talked to employees with offices in some of egmont’s more unusual locations:

ingalill Forslund our northernmost employee i am the editor-in-chief of Utemagasinet, an outdoor magazine featuring articles about hiking and kayaking in summer and skiing and skating in winter. Our offices are located in the mountainous region of Åre, 600 km from stockholm. the main bonus of having an office in the mountains is that we can easily test climbing shoes, rucksacks, tents, skis and other equipment for outdoor pursuits. we love the mountains at all times of the year, and everyone is very welcome to come and visit.

Justin Stang South africawe are fortunate enough to live and work in an absolutely fantastic place, surrounded by beautiful mountains, spectacular oceans and world-class vineyards. working for egmont africa is both rewarding and challenging. although we are total newcomers to the egmont family, we already feel at home and are looking forward to the opportunities the future will bring. at the moment our staff consists only of marlene (magazine editor) and myself, Justin (Publishing manager), and our portfolio numbers five disney titles. However, we are looking to expand our repertoire very shortly.

erik tygesen office in a container

i am the head of communications at Pumpehuset, a concert venuein Copenhagen. my office is the white container on top of the red one,

which acts as a warehouse. it’s pretty cold in the office in winter, and correspondingly hot in summer – sometimes so hot that the smell of the nearby

garbage bins can get quite overpowering. at least i can sit on the steps and bask in the sunshine while i make a phone call. sometimes we need extra backstage space

when Pumpehuset is in the run-up to a concert. that’s when we use the office as well, and suddenly we’ve got five hip-hop guys partying in our container!

March 2013 (English)

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