SCHIBSTED:

THE NEWSPAPER TRANSFORMED

“Everything was going wrong (in 2001)” recounted former Schibsted CEO Kjell Aamot. “We saw major loss-making initiatives all over the place. Most members of the board were of the opinion that I should resign.”

 

As a print media firm struggling to reckon with the threat of the Internet, Schibsted was not alone. Hundreds of newspapers around the world were engulfed in a digital wildfire. But as these events continued to unfold, something strange was happening back in Oslo. Schibsted began to turn around.

 

By 2006, the publisher’s online operations accounted for 35 percent of operating profits; by 2011, this number had grown to nearly 60%.

 

How does a modest Norwegian newspaper company architect a digital transformation that defies industry trends and whose performance is regarded as “a rare exception” among newspapers in the Western world?