Prepress

Bonnier International Magazines spreads brand reach with one-stop shop licensing

Thursday 23. July 2009 - Anders Malmsten, International Licensing Director for BIM, on how a global Bonnier can now offer concept and content to publishers around the world

The world gets smaller every day. From skyscrapers in Asia to small villages in South America, people are watching the same television programs, drinking the same soda and wearing the same t-shirts. It’s easy to travel halfway around the world, and see your favorite magazine at the airport newsstand in a different language.

Bonnier International Magazines (BIM) is the small company responsible for delivering Bonnier’s magazine brands to the world. BIM was founded in May 2008; licensing and syndication is fairly new within Bonnier. Anders Malmsten, International Licensing Director, wants BIM to be a one-stop shop for publishers.

“I think with licensing internationally, there’s a shift going on right now. The big titles that have been licensed for many years, like Cosmopolitan and Glamour, have been based on the brand and the concept, not so much on content-sharing,” says Anders. This business model can be a costly venture for any publisher. Because a skirt in a Swedish fashion spread might not be available in the Netherlands, licensees were often forced to create a lot of (expensive) content that would work for their individual markets.

BIM offers a different kind of partnership, which sets them apart from their competitors. “Our proposition is to offer the content and the concept,” explains Anders. This model works best with content that can cross borders, such as Denmark’s Illustreret Videnskab (Science Illustrated) and Illustreret Videnskab Historie (Science Illustrated History), as well as the U.S.’s Popular Science and boating titles. In September 2009, BIM plans to launch the Australian version of Science Illustrated, based on the U.S. edition of the magazines.

Anders is also excited about keeping great content in the Bonnier family of brands. Dagens Båtar (Boating Today), is a new magazine in Sweden based on content from boating titles in the U.S. Anders sees possible exchanges between Vi Föräldrar (We Parents) in Sweden and Parenting in the U.S., or between Bonnier’s many travel magazines.

Content sharing makes good business sense in these challenging times. “Publishers are focusing on projects where they can also save some money,” says Anders. “We have to find ways to work closely with our partners to make sure that they are successful. That will make us successful.”

BIM has licensed editions of nine magazines in 14 countries, including Japan, China, South Korea, Greece, Iceland and Lithuania.