New Project at Bonnier Digital

Björn Jeffery, director, future media and technology at Bonnier R&D, has spent much of the last year tracking trends big and small that are transforming the digital world as well as the media industry. But now it's time for him to take what he's learned, turning ideas into reality by implementing them.

"I'm going to be working on a new project within Bonnier that will focus on finding digital e-commerce products and services to develop that don't readily fit into the businesses Bonnier already has - books, magazines, TV, etc.," says Jeffery, whose new title will be director, digital commerce, Bonnier Digital. The project will be part of Bonnier Digital and Jeffery will eventually be in offices with Bonnier Digital companies Bink and Bonnier Digital Consumer Services. "Basically, we will be looking at anything that involves digital transactions and sales in areas that we haven't had natural inroads into before, with new customers," he says. "Like games, for example."

The project is in part an outgrowth of the research Jeffery has been doing at Bonnier R&D, which included writing an internal extensive report released in the spring on the latest digital trends affecting the industries Bonnier works in. "This is a natural development for Bonnier R&D, to take ideas and further implement them," says Casten Almqvist, CEO for Bonnier Digital. "Taking this to the next step helps us continue our focus on innovation and staying ahead of the digital curve."

For Jeffery, it's all about taking advantage of a growing market and getting in on the ground floor. "The biggest challenge for the project is going to be finding where a traditional media company fits in the digital economy," he says. "It comes down to finding what we can do better than anyone else."