Sweden's Världens Historia Magazine Launches World War II Site

History has never been more popular than now. At least at Bonnier Publications, which publishes Världens Historia magazine. In record time, the title has become the magazine publisher's second biggest title with 120,000 copies printed in six countries, and a website in five languages with 130,000 visitors each month.

And now Bonnier Publications is launching a theme website about World War II with articles, quizzes, contests, video and more. A special issue of the magazine will be out at newsstands in Sweden, Norway and Denmark this week. 

"World War II is absolutely the most popular history subject," says Sebastian Relster, editor-in-chief for Världens Historia. "That's why we decided on a big World War II initiative. The goal is to increase the number of subscribers, as well as position ourselves further on the single-copy market with the help of a special theme issue that will be out on newsstands over the next three months. We also want to increase web traffic even more."

The magazine has already succeeded in doing just that. Søren Berg, online manager for Bonnier Publication's history titles among others, says that the number of site views on the World War II site has nearly tripled since the launch. 

"To increase so much at the very beginning bodes well for the future," says Berg.

The project is a cooperation between different divisions at the head office in Copenhagen. The web and print editorial desks, IT and marketing divisions as well as ad sales have worked together on the World War II theme.

"From the start, we thought about it in terms of being 'holistic,' and we've included people from PR, booked in adwords and worked with internal marketing in the office," says Relster. "It's going to be exciting to follow in the future how it goes."