Norwegian Tara Smak a Hit from the Starting Block

The Norwegian Bonnier Media women's magazine tara was first published in 2005. Some six years later, the magazine has become the biggest in its segment in Norway. The success has whet the appetite of Bonnier Media, which decided to put out a spin-off food title: tara smak. The recipes in the magazines, which are adapted from the Swedish Allt om Mat, are mixed with feature stories, travelogues, interviews and good advice. The magazine will come out five times this year, and from 2012, be a bi-monthly coming out six times yearly.

"Marketing research that we undertook showed that tara readers were very interested in food, and with tara smak we had the opportunity to immerse ourselves in it," says Torunn Pettersen, editor-in-chief. "The mix of recipes and features has shown itself to be a success factor."

The first issue launched April 11 and nearly 25,000 copies were sold despite virtually no budgeted marketing.

"We are incredibly proud and excited in the reception of the magazine and we've gotten many positive reactions, both from readers and advertisers," says Pettersen. "And since the first sales figures have been so good, we feel certain that tara smak is filling a niche in the market."