Transformation of De Persgroep examined
By Larry Kilman, Thursday 28 February 2008 at 15:08 :: General :: #1331 :: rss
Eighteen months after combining three publishing companies into one multi-media group, Belgium's De Persgroep is ready to report on the lessons of its transformation at the World Newspaper Congress, to be held in Göteborg, Sweden, from 1 to 4 June next.
Christian Van Thillo, chief executive officer of De Persgroep, will discuss what worked and what didn't after the merger of Aurex, De Morgen and Magnet Magazines into De Persgroep in November 2006.
"The main objective was not to improve the overall bottom line by cost-cutting through synergies, but to create a new, more flexible organisation that would be better suited to effectively develop our online strategy and that would be better adapted to serve our advertisers, who are asking for multi-media solutions," says Mr Van Thillo.
The transformation of De Persgroep is part of a larger transformation of the newspaper industry, sparked by the opportunities to offer newspaper content across many media platforms. This transformation is the foundation of the 2008 Congress, which takes the theme, "Newspapers: A Multimedia, Growth Business."
The Congress, along with the World Editors Forum and Info Services Expo, are the annual, global meetings of the world's press. More than 1,500 publishers, chief editors, CEOs, managing directors and other senior newspaper executives and their guests are expected in Sweden for the events.
Full details are available at www.wansweden2008.com.
In addition to Mr Van Thillo, confirmed speakers include: Joe Webb, Deputy Managing Director of the Irish Independent; Tim Bowdler, Chief Executive of Johnston Press in the United Kingdom; Giorgio Valerio, General Manager of RCS Quotidiani in Italy; Tomas Brunegard, CEO of Sweden's Stampen Group; Nelson Sirotsky, President and CEO of RBS Group in Brazil; Francis Morel, Director General, and Pierre Conte, Deputy Director General in charge of New Media, of Le Figaro in France; Dominic Young, Director of Editorial Services of News International in the United Kingdom; I. Venkat, Director of Eenadu in India; and Tony Watson, Editor-in-Chief of The Press Association in the United Kingdom.
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