“New tech will reshape most of what we do”: Schibsted’s Bård Skaar Viken  

 

Bård Skaar Viken is Project Director at Schibsted News Media where he is focused on subscriptions and news bundles in northern Europe. Before that he was Commercial Director at Aftenposten and, in his own words, could best be described as a “subscription nerd.”

Schibsted Media Group is headquartered in Oslo, Norway – where Bård resides – and employs approximately 6,900 staff across 30 countries. However, earlier this year, the old Schibsted Group split into two entities: Schibsted Media and Schibsted Marketplaces. 

Schibsted Media, where Bård works, has continued as a private company owned by a trust, holding several of the largest newspapers in Norway and Sweden, including VG and Aftenposten in Norway, and Aftonbladet and Svenska Dagbladet in Sweden.

At Revenue Europe in October, Bård will sit on a panel with Atlas Consultancy’s Abi Spooner as well as Denník N’s Chief Digital Officer, Tomas Bella. The topic? Audience First: Building the direct-to-consumer revenue model. You can view the entire agenda here.

Imagine our audience will meet you for the first time. Can you briefly introduce yourself and your company?

I am currently working as a project director at Schibsted Media, driving ecosystem and bundle initiatives within the subscription area across Norway and Sweden. After working with subscriptions at Schibsted for more than ten years, I guess I could be described as a subscription nerd!

The only way for media to survive commercially now is through building diversified revenue models. Could you briefly explain to what extent you agree/disagree with that statement and why? 

It is easy to agree with this statement. Although a select few privileged media organisations have the scale to survive solely on subscriptions or advertising, the vast majority of us must diversify and succeed with several revenue models working in parallel.

At Schibsted, our largest brands follow slightly different revenue strategies. Our reach-based destinations are mainly funded by ads, while our premium newspapers are mainly funded by subscriptions. However, there is no real alternative to choosing either advertising or subscriptions exclusively within either category of brands. Without substantial revenues from both subscriptions and advertising, we risk our business becoming unsustainable. 

Simply put, we need to succeed with both revenue models to continue growing. A continuous task for our commercial teams is to find the optimal balance between the two main revenue models.

You have had a successful career at Schibsted, across a variety of titles, and are well placed to comment on what media organisations you feel today are impressing you with regards to revenue strategies. Or perhaps you have some strong examples from Aftenposten, Schibsted you’d like to share with us?

First of all, I have to say that the number of media organisations you can be inspired by and learn from has grown exponentially in the last few years. Ten years ago, there were not many companies that had advanced significantly in digital subscriptions. Now you can find inspiration everywhere. 

That said, within the media industry, we often look at the usual suspects such as the New York Times, Financial Times, or Axel Springer. We also find inspiration from our Nordic competitors such as Bonnier, Sanoma, and Amedia. Increasingly, we are also looking at companies in other industries running successful subscription businesses.

This is not an example solely from Schibsted, but I think the way the major commercial news providers in Norway and Sweden have worked in parallel to grow the market for paid online news is an example of a recent success story. With more than 40% of Norwegians and more than 30% of Swedes currently paying for online news, we have managed to reach a point where we can see a sustainable financial future driven by subscriptions. This is the result of strategic endurance, significant investments in content and commercial operations, and political work to ensure the necessary regulatory support (e.g. changes to national VAT legislation).

Looking at the future, how do you see Revenue Technologies shaping revenue growth and profitability in the media sector?

There are so many aspects to this question, but the simple answer is that new technologies will reshape most, if not all, of what we are currently doing to drive revenue growth. Speaking from a Schibsted perspective, we currently put a lot of effort into various personalization initiatives, finding new ways of delivering a more personalised content experience supported by hyper-targeted commercial communication. 

Although personalisation has been high on the agenda for years, I still believe that we have just dipped our toes into these opportunities, both in terms of optimising our existing business and opening new paths for growth. The good news is that off-the-shelf software providers and AI are making many things we dreamed about four or five years ago much easier to achieve.

Anything else we might have missed?

This is a really fun time to work in the media industry! While we are not yet done transforming our revenue strategies, compared to where the industry was five or ten years ago, there are many reasons to be optimistic about the future.

 

Meet Bård and your peers tasked with monetising media at our Revenue Europe summit in Berlin on 1st October. Find more information and sign up here. We hope to see you there!