How is the North European Publishing Market Changing?

The consumerization of technology has triggered a dramatic sea change in the Northern European publishing market.

Print revenues are falling and people are increasingly using tablets and smartphones to read articles online. In response to this change in behavior, news providers have started to introduce digital paywalls.

With high-profile companies in other parts of the world – most notably The New York Times – demonstrating that online pay models can work effectively for newspapers, it seems organizations in Northern Europe are now more inclined to follow suit.

Scandinavian news outlets got the ball rolling in 2012, as a number of Swedish and Norwegian publications reassessed their subscription models in order to accommodate the digital customer.

Consumers in these two countries have adopted new technology very quickly and this has opened up new opportunities for newspapers.

A recent study by Juniper Research showed that global mobile and tablet entertainment revenues would reach almost $75 billion by 2017, which explains why publishers all over the world have been so keen to focus on their digital offerings.

For example, dmg media – the company that owns The Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday – has adopted a CRM and eCommerce solution that has made it easier to monetize digital media.

Provided by MPP Global, the system allows the newspapers to deliver a seamless and enjoyable customer experience, enabling subscribers to pay for extra content with just one click.

As an article published by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers in November 2013 showed, Swedish newspaper Sydsvenskan demonstrated the importance of multi-channel news coverage by launching a digital-only version of its publication.

Following a promotional campaign, the online edition was read by 39,000 people, which the company was extremely pleased with. Sydsvenskan has a circulation of approximately 104,500, so around a third of this number accessed its digital content on this particular day, which is a telling statistic.

While it would be inaccurate to suggest print newspapers are on the brink of extinction in this part of Europe, it is clear that firms are now concentrating more of their resources on digital versions of their publications.

MPP Global and Evolok will be in attendance at DagsVara 2014 in Stockholm on February 5 2014, where we will join industry professionals in discussing some of these notable changes in the Northern European publishing market and what lies ahead for the sector.