Egmont turns 130 and is set for ongoing innovation! Egmont celebrated a special birthday on 15 May. President and CEO Steffen Kragh reviews the media group’s ability to renew itself in a media industry that has changed radically since 1878. Niels Almer / Corporate Communications / nal@egmont.com / Photo: Steen Brogaard
Which of Egmont’s founding features still exist today? We are celebrating this special birthday because Egmont Harald Petersen could think dynamically. The old system of printers’ guilds was governed by tradition and firmly entrenched practice. Egmont could think outside the box while understanding how to run an efficient business.
HARDCOPY
It was Egmont Harald Petersen who introduced four-color printing to Scandinavia. It was Egmont who hired spirited women like Valborg Andersen [editor from 1902 of the weekly later known as Hjemmet, ed.]. It was Egmont who developed the value chain for weeklies and magazines more brilliantly than his competitors. It was Egmont who used advertising agencies early on to boost
advertising volumes, and it was Egmont who launched products like Hjemmet as pan-Scandinavian brands. The Egmont company thus owes its original success to a true entrepreneur ever alert to new ideas, with a sense of quality and a knack for identifying what customers and consumers want. Finally, our DNA includes social commitment and the desire to give something back to society. This philanthropic approach springs from Egmont Harald Petersen’s own impoverished childhood, which spurred him to stipulate in his will that a portion of company profits should be donated for the good of the community.
What is the significance of Egmont’s 130-year legacy? We do not need to invent an exciting story. We have a fantastic history. We need go no further than Ole Olsen and Nordisk Film, with over a century of film-making to its name, Hjemmet Mortensen, soon to celebrate its centenary, or our company in Russia, shortly to turn 15. Egmont has a treasury full of pioneering stories. We have never been in better shape than now. We cannot live on our reputation alone. We need constantly to ask ourselves: “What do consumers find meaningful?” unlike the two old gentlemen from in the Muppet Show, Statler and Waldorf, grumbling in the balcony, convinced that everything was better back in the good old days. Finally, 130 years also says something about longterm perspective. Egmont entered the German markets right after the Second World War, quickly gained a toehold in Eastern Europe after the Berlin wall fell and was among the first online media players when the online phenomenon emerged. At the same time, with Weekend TV, Egmont helped break the TV monopoly held by Danmarks Radio in Denmark and was a founder of TV 2 in Norway. Here, we were among the few companies that persisted when the going got tough and the channel went into the red.
What developments have you witnessed during your time as CEO? The digitalization of the media market and with it the battle for unique content and for ownership of electronic access to consumers. At Egmont we have increased our earnings and thus our investment opportunities, and recent years
have seen an increase in revenue that has bolstered our market positions. We recently put the theme of innovation on the agenda – innovation of products, processes and new business opportunities.
How do you create a focal point for Egmont, a group whose geographical span and revenue are growing? I want us to grow because growth intrinsically generates momentum and new possibilities. We must seize the opportunities in Eastern Europe, which is experiencing massive market growth. Our expansion into new markets usually rides on competencies or rights that we already hold. We try to harness the potential advantages and synergies.
How can Egmont hone its competitive edge in a media market that has changed dramatically over the past 130 years? The media market also changed during the First and Second World Wars, with the advent of radio and the dawning of the television age. In fact, the media market has always been in a state of flux. Competitive ability is about constantly adapting and supplying relevant content to consumers. The key difference from earlier times is that consumers can use media in more ways than ever. They focus increasingly on the content or brand rather than the medium conveying it.
What will Egmont look like when it reaches the next red-letter anniversary? Way before then we will have exceeded DKK 15 billion in revenue and EBIDTA [profit before net financials, depreciation and amortization, ed.]. We will have more content with moving images. We will think about consumers’ social networks and about their ability to supply “media content” themselves. And at Egmont we will probably work more closely together within each country. We cannot foresee how technology will develop over the next decade, because it will be exponentially different from today. Four years from now, an iPod will have the capacity for all the music in the world. Our job will be to hold on to good stories and good content and think more about the consumer than the channel.
JUNI 2008