Bonnier News’s Alexander Lydecker on delivering AI ads… and parcels
2025-05-01T14:57:00Z
Digital media consultant Mark Challinor continues the News Horizons series by talking to the people shaping tomorrow’s media. In this issue, we sit down with Alexander Lydecker, chief operating officer at Bonnier News. This diverse business is prepared for th…
Digital media consultant Mark Challinor continues the News Horizons series by talking to the people shaping tomorrow’s media. In this issue, we sit down with Alexander Lydecker, chief operating officer at Bonnier News. This diverse business is prepared for the future of advertising and has created a novel way to fund its print business.
Bonnier News is the largest news media group in the Nordics, bringing together some of Sweden’s most well-known journalistic brands, including Dagens Nyheter, Expressen, Dagens Industri, and several local newspapers. Alexander is responsible for leading the company’s operational and strategic transformation across the Swedish and Nordic markets. His focus is on driving sustainable growth by simplifying operations, leveraging synergies between brands, and accelerating the use of automation and AI.
Overall, what have been the growth or encouragement areas for your media company in the last 12 months?
Despite a challenging economic environment in Sweden, we are very positive about our subscription development, with continued double-digit growth in digital subscriptions. What I’m most pleased with over the last few years is the transformation of our organizational culture and how we work together. We’ve brought our product development teams closer and fostered stronger collaboration across departments. This has helped us launch initiatives at the intersection of sales and product development, which require close teamwork.
Want to go deeper? Ask The Drum
Are you able to share what percentage of your revenue comes from advertising, subscriptions, and other sources?
Subscriptions represent approximately 55% of our group revenue, while advertising accounts for about 25%. The remaining 20% comes from newsstand sales, events and education, and external printing and distribution. These figures vary between our business areas and types of brands.
Is AI having a major impact on your business?
AI is a key focus in our strategy, and we’re seeing results across the organization—from small internal efficiency tools to more transformational applications. What excites me most is the impact on customer service. We’ve launched an AI-powered chatbot, are directing more traffic there, and are scaling it up. I’m also excited about our ongoing initiative around personalization and content discovery within our bundled subscription product, +Allt.
How is your relationship with the big tech platforms?
We’ve had a close relationship and long-standing partnership with Google. We use their products across various areas, from IT infrastructure and tools to advertising sales and adtech. That sets us apart from many other media companies, which tend to have a more distant relationship with big tech. That said, we also compete with these platforms for both user attention and advertiser revenue, so we have to be strategic about where we collaborate and where we compete.
Innovation and strategy: Can you share any innovative strategies your organization is implementing?
One thing that sets us apart is that we are a group of companies with a broad offering, ranging from morning and evening press to business and lifestyle titles. This portfolio has enabled us to launch our bundled subscription, +Allt. We’re focused on increasing user engagement by combining our strong brands with technology and smart product development. One innovation is cross-site content publication, which allows users to access content from other titles while remaining on their home site. This relies on technology for scale and accurate recommendations.
Advertisement
Are subscriptions the panacea for future reader involvement and monetization?
Subscriptions are the core of our strategy, both in B2C and B2B, but advertising remains a crucial pillar. It helps fund journalism and product development and can add value for our users when done well. Strong relationships with advertisers can also lead to partnerships that include subscriptions or leads—a win-win for us and our customers.
Brand building: What are the key elements of building a strong brand in today’s market?
While the media landscape is changing, we’re fortunate to have strong, trusted brands. In today’s world of decentralized content creation and AI-generated material, trust is more important than ever. Our consumer trust gives us a solid foundation to continue growing digitally.
What is your view of the state of the advertising market? How are you adapting to any decline?
The ad market in Sweden has been fairly strong this year, though some months and sectors have been impacted by the delayed economic recovery. Social media and video advertising are accelerating. That’s why it’s important for us to focus on video, adapt to user preferences, and offer the tech and formats advertisers want.
Advertisement
Sales teams: Do you see a future where new structures and skills are needed? Will sales become more consultative or AI-led?
Digital advertising requires both technical and traditional sales skills. It’s always been difficult to find someone who excels at both, but we’re seeing a shift. Sales reps increasingly need to handle technical aspects themselves. AI will play a bigger role, such as tools to help prep for meetings or increase efficiency. Long-term relationships will still be built on delivering strong results for clients.
Where does print fit into your advertising portfolio? How do you sell print to younger media buyers?
Print remains important, both for subscribers and advertisers. We sell it in different ways depending on the brand and client segment. External sales companies handle magazines and certain segments, while internal teams sell both print and digital to larger customers. We’ve partnered with media agencies and developed a self-service platform to make print easier to buy and more attractive.
Suggested newsletters for you Daily Briefing Catch up on the most important stories of the day, curated by our editorial team. Weekly Marketing Stay up to date with a curated digest of the most important marketing stories and expert insights from our global team. The Drum Insider Learn how to pitch to our editors and get published on The Drum.
Events: What role do events play in your business? Do you offer subscriber-only events?
We focus primarily on B2B events, including industry events, education, and professional networks. We also host B2C events for subscribers to boost loyalty and brand strength. These are often a collaboration between our reader revenue and editorial teams.
Audio: Are podcasts part of your offering? How are they performing?
Yes, podcasts are a key part of our portfolio. Some are behind paywalls; others are free. We’ve been experimenting with different formats and have seen good results. While advertising is part of the model, we’ve mainly focused on using audio to boost engagement, loyalty, and brand building. As we grow, monetization will become more central.
Other revenue diversification: What’s worked well for you?
Parcel delivery is one of our biggest diversification successes. We’ve partnered with other media groups to offer fast, eco-friendly home delivery. It helps reduce newspaper distribution costs and extends the life of print. We’ve also experimented with e-commerce, with moderate success, but our core focus remains on subscriptions.
Future advertising trends: Where are things headed? Will video and AI dominate?
Ad spending follows media consumption, which is growing in video, social, and audio. Technology has made advertising more personalized and efficient. AI will be integrated across the entire advertising value chain, we’ve only just begun. While there’s been hype, I’m optimistic about the real results AI will deliver long-term.
The future of media: What role will traditional media play in the next decade?
The media industry has undergone enormous change since the advent of the internet, and that will continue. Consumption will shift by format and device. News media must manage digital growth alongside print decline. That said, optimism is higher now than it was ten years ago. Traditional media can build on its strengths and remain competitive.
Challenges and opportunities: What are the biggest threats and growth areas?
A major challenge is the continued loss of ad spend to user-generated platforms. These platforms offer reach but little control over context, devaluing quality journalism. I hope advertisers adopt a more values-driven approach, prioritizing brand safety and societal impact.
Still, publishers can do more. We need to innovate in advertising formats—especially audio and video—to match new consumption behaviors. That’s a big opportunity, particularly with younger audiences.
The greatest long-term opportunity remains subscriptions. It’s a resilient model with deep roots and strong consumer support. We’re investing in attracting new audiences and boosting engagement. Simplification, automation, and AI are helping us streamline operations, scale efficiently, and personalize the user experience.
In short, while the advertising landscape is challenging, I’m optimistic. Publishers have powerful assets—trust, quality, relationships—and by combining those with smart tech, we can build a sustainable future.
Looking ahead to 2025, any words of encouragement for media companies facing ad revenue losses?
In Sweden, 2024 was tough economically—households felt the pressure of inflation and rising interest rates. But indicators are improving, and I believe 2025 will be more positive. Advertising and subscription performance should benefit. Even amid a long-term transformation, we have strong products with high reach and trusted content. That gives us a solid base to innovate and keep creating value for our customers.
More about Mark Challinor: Mark is a commercial and media advertising strategist. He recently led the International News Media Association’s (INMA.org) Advertising Initiative (the news industry’s deeper dive into media advertising). He has also been European and global president of INMA. He produces a monthly Future of Media Advertising newsletter on Linkedin, as well as running an advertising committee made up of senior executives from across the world’s media. Mark is now CEO of News Media UK Consulting. Follow Mark on X: @challinor and LinkedIn.Digital media consultant Mark Challinor continues the News Horizons series by talking to the people shaping tomorrow’s media.
Last week, we caught up with South China Morning Post’s Kevin Huang.
Auto-posted from news source
About The Author
