Helsinki, 6 May 2010 - The editorial teams of Finland’s leading magazine publisher, Sanoma Magazines Finland, are to be grouped into one Editorial Unit, as of June 1. The magazine publishing business and sales will be centralized into a Magazines Business Unit. Two other new business units are Comics and Books and Partnership Publishing.
The Editorial Unit will coordinate content, editorial development work, and portfolio development. The unit will include the editorial teams of 25 magazine titles and studio services. Riitta Pollari has been appointed head of the unit and Editorial Director as of June 1; she will transfer from her current position as Editor-in-Chief of Finland’s leading women’s weekly, Me Naiset.
The Magazines Business Unit will be responsible for magazine publishing operations and brand communication, and for consumer and media sales for Sanoma Magazines Finland as a whole. Anne Koski has been appointed head of the unit and Publishing Director, Head of Sales and Brand Communication. She serves at the moment as Publishing Director, women´s and family magazines.
Sanoma Magazines Finland is also Finland’s largest publisher of children’s and juvenile publications. The new Comics and Books Business Unit will be responsible for comics, books, book clubs, and crossword titles. Ulla Leppä has been appointed head of the unit and Publishing Director. She will transfer from her current position as Acting Publishing Director responsible for children’s and juvenile publications as well as car and technology magazines.
Custom Publishing, which produces corporate titles and other corporate communications solutions; Digital Media, which is responsible for Sanoma Magazines Finland’s online business and the construction publisher Suomen Rakennuslehti Oy will be brought together under the umbrella of the Partnership Publishing Unit. The unit is headed by Strategy Director Petri Karjalainen.
“Premium-quality content, a dynamic product portfolio, industry-leading target readership expertise, and a very well-tuned sales operation are the cornerstones of our success,” says Sanoma Magazines Finland’s CEO Clarisse Berggårdh. “By concentrating our operations into clearly focused units, we want to further strengthen our competitiveness, enhance our ability to generate new ideas, and leverage our internal strengths. Our goal is to offer the best reading experience for our more than 3 million readers, reinforce our number-one position in the marketplace, and grow profitably in all our sales and distribution channels.”
Sanoma Magazines Finland’s Management Team as of June 1 will comprise Clarisse Berggårdh, Anne Koski, Riitta Pollari, Ulla Leppä, Petri Karjalainen, CFO Markku Kiiskinen, and HR Director Marit Oksanen.
About Sanoma Magazines Finland:
Sanoma Magazines Finland is Finland’s leading magazine publisher and the market leader in women’s and family magazines, titles for children and juvenile readers, and consumer technology magazines. With more than 50 titles, we offer quality reading to over three million Finns. We also produce custom publications and are developing a growing online presence. Net sales in 2009 totalled €198.8 million.
Sanoma Magazines Finland is a business of Sanoma Magazines. Sanoma Magazines is a leading publisher of consumer magazines and digital media that actively connect with a potential audience of 290 million consumers in thirteen European countries.* The company is a division of the Sanoma Group, a strong European media group operating in diverse fields of media in twenty European countries.
* Sanoma Magazines has operating companies in Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Finland, the Netherlands, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine.
For additional information, please contact (not for publication):
Sanoma Magazines Finland
CEO Clarisse Berggårdh
Director, Magazines Business Unit (as of June 1) Anne Koski
Director, Comics and Books (as of June 1) Ulla Leppä
Editorial Director (as of June 1) Riitta Pollari
