Vi i Villa Shows the Way for Homeowners

Vi i Villa has been published since 1956, but has been owned by Bonnier only since 1998. Since the acquisition, sales have gone up from SEK 50 million in Sweden to SEK 300 million in the whole Nordic region. The magazine doesn't have subscribers in the usual sense of the word - Sweden's over 2 million homeowners get the magazine free at home in the mail ten times per year.

"One of the keys to our success is the possibility to advertise locally," says Christian Rudén, CEO. "Vi i Villa goes out in 25 editions in Sweden. Advertisers can choose if they want to be countrywide or only go out in one or a few of the editions. This allows even small advertisers the possibility, as well as giving bigger advertisers the ability to use the different editions to, for example, include local sales staff for that particular edition."

Vi i Villa is published in Denmark, Norway and Finland as well. In Norway and Finland, Bonnier launched the magazines while the Danish magazine, called idényt, was an existing magazine when it was acquired by Bonnier in 2002.

Despite similarities, there are differences between the markets. "Above all the size is different, that is the number of households that receive the magazine - Sweden and Denmark have bigger markets than Norway and Finland - and how the competition looks," says Rudén. "Otherwise the differences are a matter of nuance. But even things such as the climate make a difference: heat pumps are bigger here in the colder countries than in Denmark. And there are more wooden houses in Sweden, Norway and Finland while Danes live in stone and concrete houses, which make a difference both for advertising and editorial material." The goal of Vi i Villa is that it should seem like one company even if it is working in four different countries, says Rudén.

The financial crisis has hit the housing market hard, and even Vi i Villa has felt it.

"Far-reaching media such as unaddressed direct mail advertising and TV are our biggest competitors and we face new competition all the time," says Rudén. "TV's growth has meant that we are fighting for the same money, but we are also good at different things. It's about who offers the best deal for what is needed - sometimes TV is a better channel for advertisers and sometimes we are."

Vi i Villa has just gotten a facelift, which was the goal when a new editor-in-chief was hired at the beginning of 2010. Stina Abenius, who was the editor-in-chief of Swedish women's title Tara, got the job. In just three months, she relaunched the magazine and at the end of May the first number came out, with a new logo and design.

"I wanted above all that the magazine should be even clearer," Abenius says. "We have lightened up the form and have more people in the magazine now, with new columnists. And we have a block of news at the beginning. The biggest difference is how we build up our articles. It was also important to create a good balance between small projects, such as planting in pots, and bigger projects, such as building a deck."

Despite the target audience being so large, it is nonetheless a niche group, says Abenius. "Our approach is based on the needs a homeowner has, and we always look through two filters: one part the creative force, that people build their lives in houses - and one part the darker side, the fear of what it means to make big investments and take responsibility for owning a house."

Rudén says that it's fun to work with a project that so many can relate to. "That's one of the charms of it," he says. "And the magazine is well-used throughout the country. We are the way to home."